William VI of the United Kingdom

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William VI
Duke of Hanover
Medium
King of the British and of the People of his other Realms
Reign15 January, 1997 - 13 October, 2017
Coronation20 March, 1997
PredecessorCharles III
SuccessorAlexandra
Prime Ministers
See list
BornWilliam Edward Francis Albert Charles
(1950-12-17) 17 December 1950 (age 73)
Balmoral Castle, Scotland
Spouse
Issue
Full name
William Edward Francis Albert Charles
HouseHanover
FatherCharles III
MotherLauren Bacall
ReligionProtestant
Military service
Branch/service
Years of service1979-1996 (active service)
RankBrigadier
Battles/warsThe Troubles
Falklands War
Multinational Force in Lebanon

William VI (William Edward Francis Albert Charles; born 17 December 1950) was King of the British from 1997 to 2017. In 1995, he married the Norwegian princess Märtha Louise with whom he has four children: Alexandra, Richard, Alistair, and Mary. Despite his constitutional status, as King, he was instrumental in promoting continued relations between the United Kingdom and its allies in Asia through his respective state visits to the continent, and was also particularly responsible for the passing of the Succession to the Crown Act 1997 in the very first year of his reign, which led to a fundamental change in the country's succession laws. Meanwhile, the latter half of his reign was then marked by the early years of the War on Terror and the deaths of his parents, the former King Charles III and Queen Lauren in the years 2011 and 2014 respectively.

In his youth, he actively served in the Royal Navy, with William himself being a part of the British task force involved in the Falklands War. At the same time, he was also known for his somewhat publicised lifestyle, which tied the prince to several famous actresses at the time, most of which were either exclusively of British or American nationalities. However, in June 1995, he married Princess Märtha Louise of Norway, with whom he has four children, namely Alexandra, Richard, Alistair, and Mary. In addition to that, William is also the father of the acclaimed English journalist, Victoria, Duchess of Cambridge (formerly known as Victoria Cattrall), an illegitimate daughter born from a relationship with English-born Canadian-American actress, Kim Cattrall.

Following a health crisis in the final year of his reign, and upon the recommendation of the then Prime Minister, an ageing William abdicated the throne in favour of his daughter, whom ascended to the throne as Queen Alexandra, while styling himself as Duke of Hanover. Effectively, he became the third British monarch to ever abdicate the throne, preceded by his own father, Charles III in 1997, and later Queen Victoria in 1837. Nevertheless, following his abdication, the former monarch has since been furthering his interest in other matters aswell, including both philanthropy and inter-religious dialogues. In addition to that, he is also a dedicated patron of contemporary British filmography, having been born and influenced by both of his parents, both of whom were former actors and actresses themselves respectively.

As a result of his mother's Jewish identity, William has since been recognised as being the first Jewish monarch of the United Kingdom, as per the Jewish matrilineal descent rule.

Early Life

William was born on December 17th 1950 to the then Charles, Prince of Wales and Lauren, Princess of Wales, formerly known as Lauren Bacall, during the reign of his grandfather, King Edward VII. His godparents, in a manner previously unknown to that of his predecessors, consisted of both British and American nationals, whilst also including both members of royalty and non-royalty, such as his great-uncle and aunt, Prince Frederick, Duke of Clarence and Avondale and Princess Astrid of Sweden, then British Prime Minister, Clement Attlee, and American Hollywood figures, actor, Frank Sinatra, and actress, Katharine Hepburn.

Having been baptised as William Edward Francis Albert Charles, his given name, while initially, and most popularly thought to had been a gesture by his father in honouring his great-grandfather, the famed King William V, it was instead disclosed to had been a gesture by William's father in honouring his mother's then divorced father, William Perske. Following this, he was subsequently given the names honouring his grandfather, King Edward VII, and that of his parents' close friend, the American actor and singer, Frank Sinatra, whose given name and middle name the royal prince was given to, before concluding with William's father's own given name, Charles.

Prince of the Welsh

Around the time when William was only a year old, the death of his grandfather, King Edward VII led to his father becoming the new sovereign as Charles the Third. At the same time, as the new heir apparent, William was created Duke of Cornwall on July 7th by the former. Furthermore, following his father's ascension to the throne, the family of three subsequently moved from their previous residence at Edinburgh Castle to the central residence of Buckingham Palace in London.

Mirroring that of his own father's upbringing, William's upbringing in Buckingham Palace was reportedly said to had been somewhat restrictive in the early years, as a consequence of fringe rumours espousing harmful plots targeting the royal family. Nevertheless, the prince was able to benefit from both of his parents' much modern and liberal parenting style, with his father in particular emphasising qualities of "individuality, self-dependent, and survivability" in the young prince, while his mother generally added onto the efforts of William's father in "liberalising" the young Prince of the Welsh.

The American Prince

As his parents had previously been involved in the Hollywood industry as actors and actresses themselves, William also grew up with a firm passion for American movies and films, an interest helped by his parents' convenient associations with various Hollywood celebrities. At the same time, he also became fond of locally-made British films aswell, with the famed English actress, Audrey Hepburn, being a personal favourite, and later a close friend of his.

Katharine Hepburn

In particular, due to his parents' close association to the American actress, Katharine Hepburn, whom had consistently been a close friend of the royal couple, and also the prince's own godmother, William would also occasionally spend some time living under the actress's care at her family residence in Fenwick, Connecticut. Later on, in his memoirs, William himself described his time of living in Hepburn's family home as a "wholly wild, and fascinating experience". He also generally described the actress in a wholly positive light, having written in one instance, "While there were some minor, and understandable blunders from her, I could feel that we generally appreciated and cared for one another". Moreover, when living at the actress's Connecticut family home, William was said to had generally fancied "dipping his toes every morning on the shores of the cold water", whilst also having much interest in sports such as golf and tennis, an interest made convenient with the presence of nearby golf courses and alike.

Interestingly, the supposed state of their "mother and son" relationship proved quick to gain a sizable degree of notoriety among the local community, so much so that William was initially mistaken to be an alleged secret lovechild between Hepburn and her known romantic partner at the time, the actor, Spencer Tracy, although these were quickly refuted by Hepburn's own family members, whom were already aware of the royal family's connections to the actress. Nevertheless, when the two were mostly apart, both William and Hepburn maintained their lifelong friendship through the extensive use of telephones, and to a certain extent, an exchange of gifts, particularly during Christmas or during their own respective birthday celebrations.

Furthermore, during the period between 1968 to 1970, William once more lived together for a while with Hepburn, with the latter acting as the prince's guardian, when he chose to study at the local Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Connecticut, albeit under an assumed alias as to conceal his true identity there. Reportedly, William himself had initially considered on enrolling at the more prestigious Columbia University in neighbouring New York but, out of his desire to remain close to the actress, he chose to instead enroll in the local state university in Connecticut itself, which had been the actress's own birthplace. Thus, this arrangement allowed William a relative sense of easiness in traveling back and forth from the actress's family home in Fenwick to the city of New Britain up north. Ultimately, after a two years long study, under the assumed alias of George White, he then graduated from the university with a bachelor's degree in International Relations.

Post-University Years

Immediately following his graduation from university, William, as expected of an heir to the British throne, began to officially undertake royal duties on his father's behalf. On December 1970, he privately met with the President of Yugoslavia, Josip Broz Tito, at his private estate at the Brijuni islands. Reportedly, like his own father, William himself enjoyed a mutual friendship with the Yugoslav leader, whom William was said to had wholly admired for the latter's success in stabilising ethnic relations within the federation, along with the Yugoslav strongman's own liberal approach to foreign issues.

Reign

Upon his father's abdication on January 1997, William automatically ascended to the throne as King William VI. Despite his longstanding ceremonial status, William, in a manner similar to that of his father and predecessor, King Charles III, also partook to some degree in the country's political affairs whilst adhering to his position as a constitutional monarch.

His first notable achievement upon becoming king was the passing of the Succession to the Crown Act 1997, which occurred following an agreement at a meeting among Commonwealth leaders to amend the pre-existing succession laws, particularly concerning the initial male-preference primogeniture system, which was subsequently replaced with that of an absolute primogeniture instead. The change in the succession laws, which had arisen following personal concerns over the possibility of the then heir presumptive, Princess Alexandra being replaced as heir by a subsequent younger brother was initially championed by the then Queen Mother Lauren whom, with the support of William himself was able to successfully pressure the then Prime Minister John Major and the other Commonwealth leaders into a unanimous agreement to amend the pre-existing succession laws, which had initially run under a male-preference primogeniture system. On May 11th that year, soon after Parliament had passed the Succession to the Crown Act 1997, William himself notably declared, "A Commonwealth of the 20th and 21st centuries must never be one of an oppressive patriarchal nature, let alone one that denies the women of today an equal opportunity, whether by legal or illegal means".

On January 1998, William notably became the first high-ranking British citizen to visit the Islamic Republic of Iran where in a private meeting in the capital city of Tehran, the King met with the Iranian Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. He also met the Chinese President, Jiang Zemin later that February, followed by a subsequent visit to Taiwan on the same month. His visit to both countries, whilst receiving great attention from international commentators was also seen as a symbolic diplomatic gesture due to the fact that a year prior, the United Kingdom had ceded the territory of Hong Kong to China itself.

Abdication

During the final year of his reign, despite already being sixty seven years of age, William was consistently described as being a "generally healthy, and well-conditioned man", as he was notably credited for almost regularly playing a game of polo with the palace staff and his close associates during his free time, leading him to be known as the Polo King among his close circles. However, on October 6th, having just went back to his chambers alongside his wife, the King unexpectedly collapsed onto his bed while the latter had gone inside the chambers' bathroom. Around a minute later, royal doctors were immediately summoned following signs of a weakened pulse, leading him to be transferred instead to a special room for an operation. At the same time, by his own wife's insistence, both the British and Pakistani governments agreed to preserve details of his operation, as to not jeopardise his daughter's then ongoing state visit to the Pakistan itself. Following an initially successful operation, he was declared to be in a "mildly stable" condition but soon after, subsequent operations were also conducted which lasted until just hours before his daughter Alexandra's return from her state visit, during which he was declared to had fully recovered from his illness, which was subsequently recorded as a stroke, albeit privately.

In light of the incident, William began seriously contemplating in an abdication, during which he made it known to the then Prime Minister Theresa May, whom he had specifically invited to Buckingham Palace for the matter. Discussions between the two would continue until December 10th when in a coordinated manner, William first declared his abdication at 10:30 AM in a BBC broadcast from Buckingham Palace before an Act of Parliament was granted royal assent by the King himself, thereby effectively formalising his abdication. In his abdication speech, William chose not to publicly disclose the details of his illness leading to his abdication, having instead chosen to cite "ill-health and inability to sustain the continuation of royal duties" as his primary reasons for abdicating. He subsequently attended the coronation of his daughter and successor, Queen Alexandra whom later created the former king Duke of Hanover in light of his abdication.

Post-Abdication

Following his abdication, William promptly took an initial period of rest for approximately five months before returning to his royal duties, now as a royal duke, albeit on a periodical basis. On May 2018, he embarked on a second state visit to China, the first of which since his abdication, during which he reassured Chinese premier Xi Jinping of a sustained bilateral relationship between the two countries. On October of the same year, in an official broadcast from his residence of Buckingham Palace, William called for the Saudi ruler, King Salman of Saudi Arabia to reprimand his officials believed to be involved in the attempted kidnapping of his daughter and successor, Queen Alexandra. While there had been no immediate response from the Saudi government, the broadcast itself was largely praised by the British public, though a minority of critics labelled the broadcast as an overstepping of the former King's royal duties.

Marriage

Katharine Houghton

As a result of his parents' rather hands-off approach in regards to his potential choice of marriage, William himself thus became consequently linked to a number of important women of the time, all of which were mostly either of American or British nationalities. During the early 1970s, William was at first popularly associated with that of the young and rising actress, Katharine Houghton, whom he had personally known through his father's close friend, famed actress, Katharine Hepburn, whom Charles was also deeply familiar with. Even so, in a manner apparently mimicking that of William's father's previous romantic relationship with Hepburn decades prior, the two generally dated in secrecy, with William himself being the one mostly travelling in private to Houghton's Connecticut residence, as the risks of the latter being spotted in public instead with the British royal back in his native home country were deemed to be "concerning" and "destabilising". Nevertheless, despite the overwhelmingly positive waves of encouragement in their relationship coming from both sides, the two reportedly separated in private, with Houghton herself later disclosing in an interview that she felt "unready and just not destined to become a queen", as the actress would later marry William's similarly named brother, whom famously refused any ducal title following their marriage. In a subsequent development, he was then rumoured to have had harboured much interest in his second cousin through his paternal grandfather, the attractive Princess Hedy, whom at the time was a junior Democratic politician for the state of New York. Amidst the lack of any credible evidence surrounding their relationship, the two were never acquainted with one another much further other than being mutually friendly cousins.

Kim Cattrall

From the early to mid-1990s, William was engaged in another romantic relationship, namely with the actress, Kim Cattrall. Reportedly, around late 1991, while the prince was then on a personal vacation in California, he would first meet Cattrall while the actress was in the midst of shooting for the sixth Star Trek film. However, prior to the meeting itself, William was at first said to be mostly unaware of the film's existence, though this soon changed when under the guise of generating more publicity for the film by hoping to attract some form of endorsement from a notable member of the royal family, the film's director, Nicholas Meyer, whom upon personally meeting with the prince himself, was able to subsequently convince the latter to pay a personal visit to the movie's own film set, thus leading to a subsequent meeting on the set with Cattrall, during which the two were said to have seemed "almost immediately romantically invested in one another", which in turn led to the prince himself asking the actress out for a dinner later that night.

Soon after that, the two proceeded to continue their romantic relationship further, although, by William's own behest, their relationship initially proceeded in a state of relative secrecy, as to not bring too much attention to Cattrall herself. Nevertheless, in the following year, the two would formally appear together in the public eye for the first time ever when Cattrall was sighted being alongside the prince during his tour to the then recently established Russian Federation, where the two publicly met and toured the country alongside then Russian President, Boris Yeltsin. Soon enough, the couple was quickly received with much scrutiny by various media outlets around the world, with some of them already begun speculating on a possible marriage involving the two, whilst emphasising their apparent closeness with one another in the general public. However, in response to these rumours, George Carey, the then Archbishop of Canterbury proceeded to openly assert that the actress is "in no way or form" eligible to marry the prince herself, with the fact that Cattrall's own ex-husband, namely Andre J. Lyson being currently alive at the time cited by the archbishop as being against the teachings of the Church of England, of which William is expected to become its supreme governor upon ascending to the British throne himself, hence his expected obedience and general faithfulness to the Church's teachings. Irrespective of this, around December 1992, Cattrall herself eventually gave birth to a daughter, Victoria Cattrall at the prince's family home in Albany, New York, during which she was solely accompanied by William himself along with the doctors tasked by the prince to ensure a safe birthing process for both the actress and the newborn child. Then, when news of the child's birth was subsequently relayed in secret back to William's family in London, it was said to had been received rather reluctantly or poorly by William's parents, the King and Queen, with the King himself being quick to verbally chastise the prince in an allegedly heated phone call, while then British Prime Minister, John Major reportedly demanded the prince to immediately return back to the United Kingdom, with the strict exceptions of Cattrall herself and their illegitimate newborn daughter.

However, when the prince promptly refused to comply with the Prime Minister's supposed demand, and even subsequently threatened to leak the issue to the media himself, both William and Major began to apparently enter into a series of secret negotiations, which eventually established that both Cattrall and their shared daughter, Victoria would each be granted the title of Lady for themselves as opposed to an actual royal title due to the child having been born out of wedlock, along with being provided a considerable amount of financial aid by the British royal family meant to better alleviate the family of two's financial situation. Nevertheless, despite an agreement being conclusively reached between the two sides, William himself opted to mostly remain in the United States for roughly the next two years or so, before eventually going on to marry his wife, the Norwegian Princess Märtha Louise.

Later on, according to Cattrall herself, William continued to remain actively involved to some degree in his illegitimate daughter's upbringing, as he was often said to had both visited and spent a considerable amount of personal time with a young Victoria, whom William would also occasionally bring along with him back to the United Kingdom, as to expose the young child to her British royal relatives living on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Eventually, beginning from the year 2003, both Cattralls began to appear more publicly and frequently alongside William and the British royal family, with the earliest instance being on that year's Christmas Day, which was briefly marked by controversy when the British tabloid newspaper, The Sun first published a sighting of the actress and a ten year old Victoria joining the members of the royal family in celebrating Christmas Day that year. Then, in also marking his illegitimate daughter's 10th birthday celebrations that year, an event which took place just five days after the Christmas celebrations, William promptly issued a decree whereby the ten year old Victoria would finally be recognised as a Princess of the United Kingdom, along with the accompanying title of "Her Royal Highness".

On February 2019, in recognition of her widely acclaimed success in the field of investigative journalism, Victoria herself was then made Duchess of Cambridge by William's eldest legitimate daughter, the reigning Queen Alexandra, whom is also four years the former's junior.

Princess Märtha Louise of Norway

In the years following the birth of his illegitimate daughter, William was first introduced to the Norwegian princess, Märtha Louise, whom was almost twenty years his junior, during a state visit to Norway. Throughout the following months, the two decided to pursue a relationship, albeit in a private manner before they were officially wed in 1995. Though their marriage was partially received with despair as it was hoped that William was to eventually marry a commoner, the wedding event itself was nevertheless greatly received and also publicised by both British and Norwegian media outlets. Then, after just a few months long into their marriage, their first child, the current Queen Alexandra was born. Through their respective ancestors, William and Märtha Louise are distant cousins as Märtha Louise's grandmother was the sister of Princess Astrid whom in turn, had married William's great uncle, the Duke of Clarence of Avondale. Furthermore, the similarities in their respective backgrounds were also extensively noted, as both William and Märtha Louise were royals born from a royal father and a commoner mother, although, unlike the latter's case, William's own mother had been that of a starkly different religion and nationality while Märtha Louise's mother, Queen Sonja had strictly been of both Norwegian birth and of the Protestant faith herself.

Despite the glaring age difference of roughly two decades apart, the couple enjoyed a well-built marriage in which throughout the succeeding years, they received the birth of their twin sons, Richard and Alistair, along with their second and final daughter together, Mary.

Personal Information

Titles & Honours

  • 17 December 1950 - 7 July 1951 His Royal Highness Prince William of Cambridge
  • 7 July 1951 - 22 July 1951 His Royal Highness The Duke of Cornwall
  • 22 July 1951 - 15 January 1997 His Royal Highness The Prince of the Welsh
  • 15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017 His Majesty The King of the British
  • 13 October 2017 - 22 December 2017 His Royal Highness Prince William
  • 22 December 2017 - Present His Royal Highness The Duke of Hanover

Honours

National & Commonwealth

Foreign

  •  Spain - Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece
  •  Norway - Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of St Olav
  •  Norway - ​Recipient of the Medal of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of King Olav V
  •  Norway - Recipient of the Royal House Centenary Medal
  •  Norway - ​Recipient of the King Harald V Silver Jubilee Medal
  •  Sweden - Member of the Royal Order of the Seraphim
  •  Sweden - Commander Grand Cross - of the Royal Order of the Sword
  •  Denmark - Knight of the Order of the Elephant
  •  Denmark - Grand Commander of the Order of the Dannebrog
  •  Germany - Grand Cross Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
  •  Japan - Collar and Grand Order of the Order of the Chrysanthemum
  •  Japan - Golden Medal of Merit Japanese Red Cross
  •  Japan - Golden Medal of Honorary Member of Japanese Red Cross
  •  France - Grand Cross of the National Order of the Legion of Honour
  •  Malaysia - Honorary Recipient of the Order of the Crown of the Realm
  •  China - Recipient of the Order of Friendship
  •  Republic of China - Recipient of the Order of Brilliant Jade

Military Appointments

 United Kingdom
wikipedia:United Kingdom 3 June 1979 - 28 May 1980: Officer Cadet, Royal Navy
wikipedia:United Kingdom 28 May 1980 - 25 June 1982: Midshipman, Royal Navy
wikipedia:United Kingdom 25 June 1982 - 11 January 1984: Lieutenant, Royal Navy
wikipedia:United Kingdom 11 January 1984 - 5 May 1985: Lieutenant Commander, Royal Navy
wikipedia:United Kingdom 5 May 1985 - 20 September 1990: Captain, Royal Navy
wikipedia:United Kingdom 20 September 1990 - 15 January 1997: Commodore, Royal Navy
wikipedia:United Kingdom 15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Lord High Admiral, Royal Navy
wikipedia:United Kingdom 13 October 2017 - Present: Admiral of the Fleet, Royal Navy
wikipedia:United Kingdom 25 June 1982 - 3 June 1986: Colonel, British Army
wikipedia:United Kingdom 3 June 1986 - 12 November 1990: Brigadier, British Army
wikipedia:United Kingdom 3 June 1986 - 15 January 1997: Major General, British Army
wikipedia:United Kingdom 15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the British Armed Forces
wikipedia:United Kingdom 13 October 2017 - Present: Field Marshal, British Army
wikipedia:United Kingdom 5 June 1986 - 15 January 1997: Air Marshal, Royal Air Force
wikipedia:United Kingdom 15 January 1997 - Present: Marshal of the Royal Air Force

 Canada
Wikipedia:Canada 15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Army
Wikipedia:Canada 15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Canadian Navy
Wikipedia:Canada 15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Canadian Air Force

 Australia
wikipedia:Australia 15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Australian Army
wikipedia:Australia 15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Australian Navy
wikipedia:Australia 15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Australian Air Force

 New Zealand
wikipedia:New Zealand 15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the New Zealand Army
wikipedia:New Zealand 15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Royal New Zealand Navy
wikipedia:New Zealand 15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Royal New Zealand Air Force

Ancestry

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