William VI of the United Kingdom
| William VI | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Duke of Hanover | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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King of the British and of the People of his other Realms
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| Reign | 15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coronation | 20 March 1997 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Predecessor | Charles III | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Successor | Alexandra | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Ministers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | William Edward Francis Albert Charles 17 December 1950 Balmoral Castle, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Christy Turlington (m. 1995) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| House | Hanover | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Father | Charles III | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mother | Lauren Bacall | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Religion | Protestant | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Years of service | 1979-1997 (active service) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rank | Brigadier | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Battles/wars | The Troubles Falklands War Multinational Force in Lebanon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
William VI (William Edward Francis Albert Charles; born 17 December 1950) was King of the British from 15 January 1997 to 13 October 2017. In 1995, he married the American supermodel, Christy Turlington, with whom he has four children: Alexandra, Richard, Nicholas, 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 overseeing 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 otherwise marked by the early years of the War on Terror and by the respective deaths of his parents, the former King Charles III and Queen Lauren in the years 2011 and 2014, and lastly, by the 2016 Brexit referendum, in which the Remain vote prevailed with a 57% majority.
In his early adult years, 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. Eventually, in June 1995, he married American supermodel, Christy Turlington, with whom he has four children, namely Alexandra, Richard, Nicholas, and Mary. In addition to that, he is also the father of the acclaimed English broadcaster and journalist, Victoria, Duchess of Cambridge (formerly known as Victoria Cattrall), an illegitimate daughter born from a relationship with the English-born Canadian-American actress, Kim Cattrall.
Following a health crisis in the final year of his reign, and upon the recommendation of Prime Minister David Cameron, an ageing William ultimately abdicated the throne in favour of his daughter, whom subsequently ascended to the throne as Queen Alexandra, while otherwise styling himself as Duke of Hanover. As a result, he became the third British monarch to ever effectively abdicate the throne, preceded by his own father, King Charles III in January 1997, and Queen Victoria herself in July 1837. Following his abdication, the Duke has since been furthering his interest in other respective matters, including both philanthropy and inter-religious dialogues. In addition to that, he is also a particular patron of contemporary British filmography, having been born to and influenced by both of his parents, both of whom were former actors and actresses themselves respectively.
Due to his mother having been born Jewish herself, William is thus recognised as being the first Jewish monarch of the United Kingdom, as per the Jewish matrilineal descent rule, followed by his eldest legitimate child and successor, the reigning Queen Alexandra. He is also notably the first British monarch to be born to a father of royalty and a mother of commoner descent, followed by his successor, Queen Alexandra.
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 have 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, namely 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. In later years, William himself would often refer to Hepburn as "my mother on the other side of the pond", and sometimes as "my great Aunt Kate".
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 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 also been the actress's own birthplace. Thus, this arrangement allowed William a relative sense of easiness in travelling 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 have wholly admired for the latter's success in stabilising the largely volatile relations between the various ethnicities situated within the federation, along with the Yugoslav strongman's more flexible approach to foreign issues, in contrast to other communist states in Eastern Europe.
Reign
Early Years
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, 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 same 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 official 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, meeting the then-President of Taiwan, Lee Teng-hui. His visit to both countries, whilst receiving great attention from international commentators, was also seen as a symbolic diplomatic gesture since the year before, the United Kingdom had ceded the territory of Hong Kong to China itself after decades of colonial administration over the territory.
9/11 & Iraq War
In the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks, he publicly expressed his "greatest sympathies with the American people", stating that "innocent citizens should never be the target of such a heinous act of terror intended to promote a malicious goal". That same year, as head of state, he oversaw the Blair administration's participation in the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, which effectively toppled the predominant Taliban regime in the country. Just a couple of years later, the United Kingdom would also participate in the controversial 2003 invasion of Iraq, which in addition to sparking nationwide protests over the perceived justification for the invasion, also proved to be a source of controversy for the royal family themselves, when the King's sister, Catherine, Princess Royal infamously posed nude on the cover of a British Vogue magazine, in an act of personal protest against the invasion itself. The princess's manner of protest, which included draping herself with a Union Jack flag, aswell as having herself leaning against a British Challenger 2 battle tank promptly became the source of condemnation and rebuke by a number of military officials, whom dubbed her manner to be "treasonous", while some sectors of the public dubbed the princess's manner of protest to be "shameful" and "unpatriotic". In response, the King himself was said to have afterwards reluctantly rebuked his sister himself in order to preserve the royal family's prestige and standing among the British public, while rumours allege that he had otherwise been privately supportive and approving of his sister's protest. Meanwhile, a statement which officially condemned the invasion on the grounds of its dubious justification published by his other sister, the Duchess of Albany, whom was then serving as the Commonwealth Secretary-General once more brought the royal family into the center of the controversy surrounding this action, although the duchess herself, whom in contrast to the Princess Royal, received a generally far less amount of rebuke or criticism for her own action regarding the invasion since she was then serving as the executive head of a global political association.
Final Years
With the onset of the financial crisis of 2007-2008, a global recession that was considered to be the most serious recession since the Great Depression William personally had the tax rate for himself as the British monarch raised to a slightly higher amount, so as to contribute more financially to efforts in mending the recession's immediate effects. Evidently, in an interview with the BBC around that same time, he remarked, "When the Second World War happened, my father broke royal convention and decided to go to war against Japan in the Pacific while my grandparents chose to bravely face the German bombings head-on, thus putting them both in grave danger just as the average soldier and citizen". He promptly declared that "while I would not be the King of England to face an armed invasion of our country, I would also not be the one to sit back and watch my own people face the hardships alone, for that is what Louis XVI of France did, and in the end, as we all know it, he ultimately lost his head". At the same time, in a manner deemed unconventional by many as the country's head of state, William also openly encouraged the government under then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown to pursue aggressive economic policies meant to combat the recession's immediate effects, declaring that "if God wills it, the United Kingdom would be the first country in the world to escape this burgeoning recession". Nonetheless, Brown himself was subsequently voted out of office in the 2010 general election, which saw him being replaced with the current Conservative prime minister, David Cameron, with whom he was said to have later developed a close working relationship, one that continued well under his successor, the reigning Queen Alexandra.
He later openly praised the historic legalisation of same-sex marriage in England and Wales, aswell as the Conservative government's healthcare and welfare reforms. In the last few years of his reign, it was marked by three separate and notable referendums, with the first being a referendum on the method of electing Members of Parliaments at future general elections, the second concerning potential Scottish independence, while the third one otherwise revolved around the status of the United Kingdom's continued membership of the European Union. All three referendums went in the government's favour each time, while William himself, whom in contrast to the demeanor shown during his previous years, largely kept silent on the respective outcomes of each of the three separate referendums. At around the same time, both his father and his mother would each respectively pass away on March 2011 and August 2014. In one interview conducted sometime after his abdication, he went on to describe the last few years of his reign as "both eventful and also emotional in nature".
Abdication
In 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 gone 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, any knowledge of the incident was kept secret from spreading outside of the palace itself, as to not force an immediate return for their daughter, Alexandra from her university. Following an initially successful operation, he was declared to be in a "mildly stable" condition but soon afterwards, subsequent operations were also conducted which lasted until just hours before his daughter Alexandra's return from her university, during which he was declared to had fully recovered from his illness, which was subsequently noted to have been a stroke but was otherwise kept secret from public knowledge.
In light of the incident, William began seriously contemplating in an abdication, during which he made it known to the then Prime Minister David Cameron, 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 soon afterwards made her father Duke of Hanover as his post-abdication title.
Post-Abdication
Ever since his abdication took effect in October 2017, William has largely devoted his interests ever since towards philanthropy, having established the Charles & Lauren Peace Foundation himself in December 2017, aswell as towards the field of international relations. On February 2018, he held his second overall state visit (his first as the Duke of Hanover) to the People's Republic of China, meeting the country's incumbent President, Xi Jinping, with whom he subsequently toured a particular university in the capital city of Beijing, which was built in 1991 following the former's initial state visit to the country two decades prior. Nevertheless, amidst allegations and rumours accusing him of having "pro-Chinese sentiments", William himself has largely been personally active in calling for an end to the ongoing trade war involving the two countries. In a March 2018 op-ed for The New York Times, he wrote that "the ongoing trade war going on at this very moment is nothing different than the Cold War conflict that terrorised the world throughout much of the previous 20th century". Afterwards, on May 9th 2018, in response to the American government's withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action agreement, William himself took to personally criticising the decision, while also echoing his late father's proposed vision of the United Kingdom's overall foreign policy theme, as he subsequently referred to the decision as "a clear wake-up call for Britain's people and administrators to once more seek to chart their own path forward towards making the world a better place for all, with or without the help of the United States of America". Soon afterwards, although he was criticised by some for inserting himself into politics, a move which was largely disallowed among members of British royalty, his words were otherwise positively received by some groups aswell, with Amelie Chambers of The Independent writing that "the Duke's words could never be truer for every living Brits waking up to the reality of an uncharacteristically brash and a rogue ally in the form of the United States of America".
Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, William, whom along with other members of the British royal family, has since taken to largely restricting their usual activities indoors, although, much like his fellow family members themselves, the Duke has also personally paid a number of visits to various healthcare facilities across the United Kingdom, while also emphasising the importance of COVID-19 safety protocols, aswell as vaccinations.
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, namely the actress, Katharine Hepburn, Houghton's own aunt, with whom Charles was also closely familiar. 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 great of a concern for either side. However, amidst the overwhelmingly positive encouragement in favour of a marriage between the two, neither William nor Houghton ultimately agreed to ever seek such an option, with Houghton herself later marrying William's similarly named younger brother instead, thereby effectively making the actress William's own sister-in-law.
Irrespective of this, both William and Houghton would both go on to remain close friends with one another, so much so that Houghton would later be referred to by several media outlets as "the third princess", in alluding to the general state of closeness between the actress and her two respective sister-in-laws, namely Catherine, Princess Royal and the Duchess of Albany.
Throughout the following years, William was subsequently associated with a number of other notable figures of the time, which included actresses, Raquel Welch, Jaclyn Smith, and Jane Seymour, aswell as several royal princesses, with the most notable being Princess Caroline of Monaco, whom he briefly dated for a few years in the early 1980s.
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 been almost immediately romantically invested in one another, which in turn led to the prince reportedly asking the actress out for a dinner later that night. Later on, the late actor, Christopher Plummer, whom had starred alongside Cattrall in the movie itself, went on to describe the couple as "a pair of sick lovebirds", while also claiming that whenever Cattrall herself was not involved in a particular scene, she would always be seen only talking to the British royal himself, so much so that William was then supposedly nicknamed by the crew as "the posh John Lennon", in a reference to the somewhat similar degree of fascination held by the American public towards the late English singer present in the actress's own immediate infatuation with the British royal.
Soon afterwards, 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, then a rising actress 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 for 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, due to 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, an institution 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. Nevertheless, 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 back in general secrecy to William's family in London, it was said to have been received rather poorly by the prince's parents, the King and Queen, with the King himself being quick to reportedly chastise the prince in an allegedly heated phone call between the two men, while then British Prime Minister, John Major reportedly demanded the prince to immediately return back to the United Kingdom, while both Cattrall herself and the couple's illegitimate newborn daughter were otherwise forbidden to do so themselves under the guise of "national security".
However, when the prince promptly refused to comply with the Prime Minister's aforementioned demand to immediately return to the United Kingdom without the two Cattralls, and even subsequently threatened to leak the issue to both the American and British media, both William and Major opted to subsequently 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 with 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 current wife, the American supermodel, Christy Turlington, with whom William would later have four children, including the current Queen Alexandra.
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 have 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 allow the young child to better bond with her British royal relatives living on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Eventually, beginning from the year 2003, both the younger and older Cattrall 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".
Despite having never formally recognised Cattrall as a wife of his own, William is nevertheless known for his otherwise passionate defence of the former in the face of media speculation and occasional criticism, with one infamous instance being sometime in March 1999, when the prince then famously sued the British newspaper, the Daily Mail for having published an article referring to Cattrall, whom had then been gaining much fame herself through her role of Samantha Jones in the popular drama series, Sex and the City, as "an unapologetic and unabashed mistress", a description that was subsequently criticised by the British royal, whom called the term "largely derogatory, aswell as a great insult to the mother of my beloved daughter". On the other hand, while Cattrall herself has so far only been given a ducal title of her own, the actress has nevertheless been reportedly referred to by William himself on several occasions as Queen Victoria instead, in a manner supposedly meant to give the actress an equal title-based standing alongside William's own lawfully wedded wife, Christy Turlington, whom is otherwise formally referred to as Queen Christy herself.
Christy Turlington
Around March 1994, while accompanying his sister, the Princess Royal to an exclusive gala in Paris, France, he was first introduced to the American supermodel, Christy Turlington by the Princess Royal herself, whom prior to that event, had been a close friend of the famed American supermodel, due to the two women sharing a common profession in modelling. Irrespective of this, according to the couple's close circles, the two, whom upon being introduced to one another, were able to immediately "hit it off", so much so that according to one version in particular, Turlington herself soon afterwards "tightly hugged" and "incessantly thanked" the Princess Royal for having paired the two together at the start. However, despite a largely positive start for their relationship, the two did not immediately followed up on their initial successes the following day, although the subsequent "courting" process nonetheless took place in the days afterwards, during which period the couple largely avoided media attention that could result from their equally high-profile statuses, which meant that the couple themselves would often took to reportedly wearing mostly inconspicuous outfits whenever the two would be with one another in public. It was also revealed later on by William himself in an interview, that as an additional safety precaution, the couple would largely frequent the Caribbean islands for their many dates together, with the major reason being the supposed privacy and seclusion offered by the region's many island countries, in comparison to the United States, or any major European country where they were perceived to be more likely to be spotted together by paparazzi, thus risking a premature exposure of their relationship.
Eventually, around December that same year, the couple's relationship would finally become public knowledge when in a speech marking his 44th birthday that month, William personally acknowledged that a relationship between himself and the American supermodel had in fact taken place in the months prior, much to the surprise of both the British government and public, while both the King and Queen themselves were otherwise said to have been already made aware of it beforehand, so as to already secure an official permission from William's own father, as per the Royal Marriages Act 1772, with the necessary condition being that Turlington herself would be willing to convert to Anglicanism in order to circumvent the pre-existing ban on marriages between a Catholic and a traditionally Anglican member of the royal family.
Soon enough, when the announcement was broadcasted live to the public, it immediately sparked considerable controversy among British society, not least in part due to Turlington herself belonging to the Catholic denomination, but otherwise due to her current profession at the time, which was deemed by some to be inappropriate for a future queen consort, with even one Conservative MP at the time even claiming that "the marriage would be the end of the centuries-old monarchy". Nonetheless, sometime afterwards, both then-Prime Minister John Major and the then-Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey jointly agreed to approve such an union, under the strict condition that Turlington herself would ultimately convert to Anglicanism, in order to avoid any further complications. Meanwhile, William's own father, King Charles III himself also came out in support of the union himself as the reigning British monarch, claiming that "it is wrong for me to say that having a Catholic-turned-Anglican convert as my very own daughter-in-law would be something entirely strange or a new concept for myself, for my own great-grandmother (Queen Charlotte) was also a Catholic-turned-Anglican, and for that, she deserves absolutely no hate or condemnation at all for whom she was before as an individual". At the same time, rumours of the couple's incompatability due to their seventeen year difference in age were also squashed, with Turlington herself later revealing in an interview that she "felt largely safe and comfortable in having such a marriage", with the presence of the Princess Royal, whom was herself a mutual acquaintance of the two, being attributed as one of the supposed reasons for the overall success in the couple's marriage to this day.
Eventually, on June 14th 1995, the couple were married in a similar fashion to that of William's parents, specifically at Oheka Castle, a hotel in New York which notably served as the wedding venue for the prince's own parents back in 1946. On William's side, his groomsmen included his own brother, Prince William, along with Frank Sinatra Jr., son of the famed singer and actor, Frank Sinatra, actor, Hugh Grant, U.S Senator, Ted Kennedy, and then-vice president, Al Gore, whom was reportedly chosen as a result of then-President Bill Clinton's inability to participate in the wedding himself, while on Turlington's side, her list of bridesmaids largely included the likes of her fellow supermodel friends, namely the Princess Royal herself, along with Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, Tatjana Patitz, and Kate Moss. William's other sister, the Duchess of Albany was also subsequently included as part of the bride's many bridesmaids. Then, for the first couple of weeks, the couple largely resided at the family home of actress, Katharine Hepburn, herself being a close friend and "aunt" of William's, at Fenwick, Connecticut, before proceeding to spend the rest of their approximately month long vacation period in the Caribbean island nation of Jamaica, during which the couple briefly met then-Prime Minister of Jamaica, P. J. Patterson. It was later believed that the American island state of Hawaii had initially been the couple's choice of destination for spending the vast majority of their honeymoon period, although this was otherwise abandoned, supposedly due to William himself having opted for a more "Caribbean-style honeymoon vacation".
Soon enough, just a year into their marriage, the couple would welcome the birth of their first child together, the reigning Queen Alexandra, although this was in turn followed by a roughly three year long period during which the couple chose to live separately from one another, so as to accomodate for Turlington's decision to focus on her university studies in the United States, which in turn led to rumours falsely claiming that the couple's marriage was in a terrible state as anticipated, while the reality proved to be the exact opposite. Later on, following Turlington's graduation in 1999, the two would finally begin to live together as a family of three at the royal residence of Buckingham Palace. Soon enough, on the following year, William's wife gave birth to twins, Richard and Nicholas, and eventually, another daughter, Mary in 2003.
Comparison to the Trumps
Following the appointment of real estate mogul, Donald J. Trump and former Slovene-American model, Melania Trump as the President and First Lady of the United States on January 2017, both William and his wife, the American supermodel, Christy Turlington were quickly subjected to numerous and almost frequent comparisons to the presidential couple themselves, with one The Daily Beast article referring to the royal couple as the "Trumps but British", with various commentators noting on how William and the then President were both born in the same decade with only a few years apart, while their respective wives, American supermodel, Christy Turlington and former Slovene-American model, Melania Trump were also born in the same decade aswell, albeit with only a year apart separating the two women.
Eventually, during an interview held just several days after the January 6th pro-Trump riot at the United States Capitol in Washington D.C., William himself eventually rebuked said comparisons, claiming that the comparisons were "mere coincidences and not exclusive at all in nature", claiming that "just any powerful man can be married to a fashion model aswell". On the other hand, the American actress, Katharine Houghton, whom is William's own sister-in-law and also the latter's close childhood friend aswell otherwise criticised the comparisons herself, claiming instead that the British royal was "simply incomparable to Donald Trump in terms of their relationships with women in general", while also arguing that William himself has never been known to have possessed any personal views that are "wholly repulsive" and "maliciously extreme in nature", as opposed to the latter whom has consistently aroused much controversy himself from his own personal views that are considered by many to be homophobic, sexist, and racist in general. Around the same time, an opinion poll ran by The Guardian newspaper which questioned readers on which of the two men's respective wives do they believe would be a "promising and commendable first lady" instead saw the American supermodel and William's wife, Christy Turlington herself receiving a score of 89% to Melania Trump's 11%.
On that note, comparisons between the Trumps' and the couple's respective daughters, namely Ivanka Trump and the reigning Queen Alexandra have also been made on several occasions, with most pointing to the various similarities shared by both women. Nonetheless, when questioned about the comparisons themselves in an interview with the BBC, William himself replied, "To each their own, for I'm sure that he (Donald) would be much thrilled and proud of his daughter's achievements, which would also be the case with me and my very own Alexandra". On the other hand, following reports by various media outlets which spoke of the real estate mogul-turned-president's inappropriate remarks towards his own daughters, including Ivanka herself, William has since largely proved critical of the former, whose remarks he described as "utterly disgusting" and "morally reprehensible".
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
United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Most Noble Order of the Garter- United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Royal Family Order of King William VI
- United Kingdom - Recipient of the Royal Family Order of King Charles III
- United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Medal of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of King Charles III
- United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Royal Guelphic Order
- United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Order of St. George
- United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle
- United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick
- United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath
- United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George
- United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Order of the British Empire
- United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Distinguished Service Order
- United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Williamite Cross
Canada - Sovereign of the Order of Canada
Australia - Sovereign of the Order of Australia
New Zealand - Sovereign of the Order of New Zealand
Barbados - Sovereign of the Order of Barbados
Saint Lucia - Sovereign of the Order of St Lucia
Solomon Islands - Sovereign of the Order of Solomon Islands
Belize - Sovereign of the Order of Belize
Antigua and Barbuda - Sovereign of the Order of Antigua and Barbuda
St Christopher and Nevis - Sovereign of the Order of St Christopher and Nevis
Grenada - Sovereign of the Order of Grenada
Tuvalu - Sovereign of the Order of Tuvalu
Puerto Rico - Sovereign of the Order of Puerto Rico
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
3 June 1979 - 28 May 1980: Officer Cadet, Royal Navy
28 May 1980 - 25 June 1982: Midshipman, Royal Navy
25 June 1982 - 11 January 1984: Lieutenant, Royal Navy
11 January 1984 - 5 May 1985: Lieutenant Commander, Royal Navy
5 May 1985 - 20 September 1990: Captain, Royal Navy
20 September 1990 - 15 January 1997: Commodore, Royal Navy
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Lord High Admiral, Royal Navy
13 October 2017 - Present: Admiral of the Fleet, Royal Navy
25 June 1982 - 3 June 1986: Colonel, British Army
3 June 1986 - 12 November 1990: Brigadier, British Army
3 June 1986 - 15 January 1997: Major General, British Army
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the British Armed Forces
13 October 2017 - Present: Field Marshal, British Army
5 June 1986 - 15 January 1997: Air Marshal, Royal Air Force
15 January 1997 - Present: Marshal of the Royal Air Force
Canada
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Army
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Canadian Navy
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Canadian Air Force
Australia
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Australian Army
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Australian Navy
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Australian Air Force
New Zealand
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the New Zealand Army
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Royal New Zealand Navy
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Royal New Zealand Air Force
Ancestry
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