Coordinates	21°28′14″N158°12′51″N
name	Prince William
title	Duke of Cambridge (more)
imagw	245
spouse	Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge
house	House of Windsor
full name	William Arthur Philip Louis The middle name Louis is pronounced .|groupfn |namesur}}

| titles = ''HRH'' Prince William, Duke of Cambridge | father = Charles, Prince of Wales | mother = Diana, Princess of Wales | birth_date = June 21, 1982 | birth_place = St Mary's Hospital, London | date of christening = 4 August 1982 | place of christening = Buckingham Palace, London | religion = Anglican (Church of England) }} Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982) is the elder son of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Diana, Princess of Wales, and third eldest grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. He is second in the line of succession, behind his father, to the thrones of sixteen independent sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis. Consequently, he is also second in line, again behind his father, to the position of Head of the Commonwealth (figurehead of the 54-member Commonwealth of Nations) and, in England only, Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

He was educated at four schools in the United Kingdom and obtained a degree from the University of St Andrews. He spent parts of a gap year in Chile, Belize, and countries in Africa, most notably Kenya where he has lived and holidayed several times. Besides his engagement to Kate whilst living in Kenya, Prince William has also taken Kiswahili studies at universities in Kenya and Tanzania. He was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Blues and Royals regiment of the Household Cavalry—serving with his brother Prince Harry—and, two years later, earned his wings by completing pilot training at Royal Air Force College Cranwell. In 2009, the Prince transferred to the Royal Air Force, was promoted to flight lieutenant and underwent helicopter flying training in order to become a full time pilot with the Search and Rescue Force. In Autumn 2010, he completed his general and special-to-type helicopter training and he is now at RAF Valley on No. 22 Squadron performing co-pilot duties on board a Sea King search and rescue helicopter. Prince William married his longtime girlfriend, the then Catherine Middleton, on 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey. Hours prior to his wedding, Prince William was created Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn and Baron Carrickfergus.

Early life

Prince William was born at St Mary's Hospital, London on 21 June 1982. He was baptised in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace on 4 August 1982 (the 82nd birthday of his paternal great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother) by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie. William's godparents are: former King Constantine II of Greece (his paternal cousin); Princess Alexandra, The Hon Mrs Angus Ogilvy (his paternal cousin); the Duchess of Westminster; the Lady Susan Hussey; Lord Romsey (his paternal cousin); and Sir Laurens van der Post.

As a male-line grandchild of the sovereign and son of the Prince of Wales, William was styled 'His Royal Highness' 'Prince William of Wales', though he was affectionately called 'Wombat' by his parents or 'Wills' (the latter a name coined by the press by which he is still known by the general public). It was reported that, at age seven, the Prince said to his mother that he desired to be a police officer when he was older, so that he might be able to protect her; a statement to which his brother responded: "Oh, no you can't. You've got to be King." William's first public appearance was on 1 March 1991 (Saint David's Day), during an official visit of his parents to Cardiff, Wales. After arriving by aeroplane, the Prince was taken to Llandaff Cathedral, where he signed the visitors' book, thereby demonstrating that he was left-handed. On 3 June 1991, William was admitted to Royal Berkshire Hospital after having been hit on the side of the forehead by a fellow student wielding a golf club. The Prince did not lose consciousness, but did suffer a depressed fracture of the skull and was operated on at the Great Ormond Street Hospital, resulting in a permanent scar.

William's mother desired her two sons should have wider experiences than are usual for royal children. Diana took William and his brother to Walt Disney World and McDonald's; in addition they visited AIDS clinics and shelters for the homeless. She also bought them things typical teenagers used, such as video games. Diana, Princess of Wales, who was by then divorced from the Prince of Wales, died in a car accident in 1997. William, along with his brother and father, was staying at Balmoral Castle at the time, and the Prince of Wales waited until early the following morning to tell his sons about their mother's death. At his mother's funeral, William accompanied his father, brother, paternal grandfather, and maternal uncle in walking behind the funeral cortège from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey.

Education

William was educated at independent schools, starting at Jane Mynors' nursery school and the pre-preparatory Wetherby School, both in London. Following this, he attended Ludgrove School and was privately tutored during summers by Rory Stewart. At Ludgrove he also participated in football—along with swimming, basketball, clay pigeon shooting, and cross-country running. William sat for the entrance exam to Eton College and was admitted. There he studied geography, biology and history of art at A-Level, obtaining an A in geography, a C in biology and a B in history of art. At Eton he continued to play football, captaining his house team, and took up water polo. The decision to place William in Eton went against the family tradition of sending royal children to Gordonstoun (William's grandfather, father, two uncles, and two cousins all attended); it did, however, make the Prince follow in the Spencer family footsteps, as both Diana's father and brother had attended Eton. It was also agreed between the Royal Family and the tabloid press that William would be allowed to study free of paparazzi intrusion in exchange for regular updates of the Prince's life. Then chairman of the Press Complaints Commission, John Wakeham, said of the arrangement: "Prince William is not an institution; nor a soap star; nor a football hero. He is a boy: in the next few years, perhaps the most important and sometimes painful part of his life, he will grow up and become a man."

After completing his studies at Eton, the Prince took a gap year, during which he took part in British Army training exercises in Belize, and, for ten weeks, taught children in the town of Tortel, in southern Chile, as part of the Raleigh International programme. It was during his time in the latter location that he lived with other young teachers, sharing in the common household chores, including cleaning the toilet, and also volunteered as the guest radio jockey for the local radio station.

By 2001, William was back in the United Kingdom and had enrolled, under the name William Wales, at the University of St Andrews. News of this caused a temporary increase in the number of applications to St Andrews, mostly from young women who wanted an opportunity to meet the Prince. The extra attention did not deter him, though, and he embarked on a degree course in art history, later changing his main subject to geography, and going on to earn a Scottish Master of Arts degree with upper second class honours in geography—the best degree of any heir to the throne of Britain and the Commonwealth realms. While at university, Prince William also represented the Scottish national universities water polo team at the Celtic Nations tournament in 2004. He was known as “Steve” by other students to avoid any journalists overhearing and realising his identity.

Royal duties and career

William began to accompany his parents on official visits at an early age; his first overseas royal tour was with his parents to Australia and New Zealand in 1983, a decision made by the Princess of Wales that was considered to be unconventional; not only was William so young, but both the first and second in line for the throne would be travelling together. However, he accompanied either both parents or his father on subsequent tours, and, upon graduation from university, began to undertake duties of his own, as well as obtaining experience in the private workforce when he worked with land management at Chatsworth House and interned at HSBC.

Military career

Having decided to follow a military career, in October 2005 William attended the four day Regular Commissions Board at Westbury in Wiltshire where he underwent selection to judge his suitability to become an Army officer. Having passed selection, William went up to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in January 2006. Successfully completing the course, William graduated from Sandhurst on 15 December 2006, the graduation parade being attended by the Queen and the Prince of Wales, along with other members of the Royal Family, and William officially received his commission as a lieutenant at midnight. With his rank obtained, the Prince, under the name of William Wales, followed his younger brother into the Blues and Royals as a troop commander in an armoured reconnaissance unit, after which he spent four months in training for the post at Bovington Camp, Dorset.

Once officially enrolled and commissioned in the Armed Forces, William expressed a desire to participate in active service; in this there was a recent precedent of the service of his great-great-uncle Edward VIII who, as Prince of Wales, served in France during the First World War; his great-grandfather George VI who also served during World War I (with the Navy at the Battle of Jutland and in France with the Air Force); and his paternal grandfather Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who served with distinction during World War Two. More recently, his uncle Prince Andrew, Duke of York served in the Falklands war.

Though Major-General Sebastian Roberts, general officer commanding the Household Division, had said William being deployed was possible, the Prince's position as second in line to the throne, and the convention of ministers advising against the person in that position being put into dangerous situations, cast doubts on William's ability to see combat. These doubts increased after Prince Harry's deployment was cancelled in 2007, due to "specific threats". William, instead, went on to training in the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, obtaining his commission as a sub-lieutenant in the former and flying officer in the latter (both broadly equivalent to the rank of lieutenant in the Army). With this complete, the Prince undertook an attachment with the Air Force, undergoing an intensive four-month training course at RAF Cranwell, which, upon completing the course on 11 April 2008, he was presented with his RAF wings by his father, who had himself received his wings after training at the same college. It was later revealed that it had been during this secondment that Prince William had helped to man a C-17 Globemaster to Afghanistan, during which he assisted in the repatriation of the body of Trooper Robert Pearson. The Prince had been affectionately known by his fellow airmen, and his callsign was designated, as ''Billy the Fish'', a pun on his title.

William then moved to train with the Navy for two months, from June to August 2008, during which time he spent three weeks at the Britannia Royal Naval College, training on units of the surface fleet, and submarines, as well as with the Fleet Air Arm and Royal Marines, before deploying for a further five weeks on HMS ''Iron Duke'' in the Caribbean. It was during this tour that the Prince took part in a secret underwater mission, as well as helping to identify and capture a small vessel that had been transporting an approximate £40 million worth of cocaine, and taking part in other raids.

Owing to William's future role, a long term career in the military was considered out of the question; due to his position, his desire to see active service was always unlikely to be granted. William originally joined the military on a short-service commission lasting three years. However, it was announced in September 2008 that the Prince would be extending his time in the forces, first by taking on another secondment in the autumn of 2008 (including working at the MOD and non-operational flying with the Army Air Corps). Then it was announced that he would transfer from the Army to the RAF in order to train as a full time search and rescue helicopter pilot; this role enables him to take an active role as a member of the armed forces without him being deployed on combat operations.

In January 2009, William transferred his commission to the RAF and was promoted to Flight Lieutenant. He trained to become a helicopter pilot with the RAF's Search and Rescue Force. In January 2010, he graduated from the Defence Helicopter Flying School at RAF Shawbury, where he had been under the instruction of Squadron Leader Craig Finch. On 26 January 2010 he transferred to the Search and Rescue Training Unit at RAF Valley on Anglesey to receive training on the Sea King search and rescue helicopter and graduated from this course 17 September 2010.

It was announced on 15 April 2010 that William will remain at RAF Valley for his operational tour, being assigned to No. 22 Squadron and initially performing co-pilot duties. It is expected that William's operational tour will last 30 to 36 months.

William participated in his first rescue mission (as co-pilot of an RAF Sea King Helicopter) and responded on Saturday, 2 October 2010, to an emergency call from the Liverpool Coastguard. The prince, who was excited to finally take part in an active mission, and the other three members of the crew flew from their base at RAF Valley in Anglesey, North Wales, to an offshore gas rig in Morecambe Bay, northwest England. William and three other crew members picked up a man who had suffered an apparent heart attack on the rig and airlifted him to a local hospital.

Royal duties

At the age of 21, Prince William was appointed as a Counsellor of State, and began his royal duties by first serving in that capacity when the Queen was abroad to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2003, in Nigeria. For his 21st birthday, William also accompanied his father on a royal tour of Wales, where they visited the Anglesey Food Fair and opened a centre for the homeless in Newport. By July 2005, he was on his first solo overseas tour, travelling to New Zealand, on behalf of his grandmother in her role as Queen of New Zealand, to participate in World War II commemorations. For the 30th anniversary of his father's charity, The Prince's Trust, William and his brother were interviewed together for the first time by Ant & Dec. In July 2007, Prince William accompanied his grandmother's cousin The Duke of Kent, who is President of the UK Scout Association, in opening the 21st World Scout Jamboree, celebrating the centennial of the founding of the Scout Movement.

It was said in Tina Brown's 2007 biography of Diana, Princess of Wales, that Prince William had, like his father, expressed a desire to become Governor-General of Australia, though fulfilment of the idea was considered doubtful by then-Prime Minister of Australia John Howard, who said: "We have for a long time embraced the idea that the person who occupies that post should be in every way an Australian citizen."

In 2009, a private office was set up for William by his grandmother, with Sir David Manning being appointed as his adviser. Manning personally accompanied him in January 2010 as he toured Auckland and Wellington on behalf of the Queen; William opened the new building of the Supreme Court of New Zealand and was welcomed as a Māori chief. In March 2011, William visited Christchurch, New Zealand, after the recent earthquake, and there addressed the memorial service at Hagley Park, on behalf of his grandmother. Upon leaving New Zealand, William travelled to Australia, where he made a visit to areas badly affected by flooding in the states of Queensland and Victoria. After twice accompanying his parents to Canada, the Prince, with his wife, is expected to officially tour the country in June and July 2011, attending Canada Day celebrations on Parliament Hill. ''(See 2011 Royal tour of Canada.)'' Speculation in late 2009 that William would be taking over increasing numbers of the Queen's ceremonial and state duties has been denied by the Palace.

Personal interests

Following his parents' examples, William took interest in various causes from a relatively early age. The late Princess of Wales' work with HIV/AIDS aid and prevention, and the Prince of Wales' work with the natural environment and the inner-city disadvantaged, directed William into those areas. He also showed a desire to focus on the needy in Africa, sometimes working with his brother's charity, Sentebale.

On 23 January 2009, it emerged that Prince William had written the foreword to a book for the first time. The cover of ''Home from War'', the autobiography of a soldier from the Prince's regiment who was seriously wounded in a Taliban ambush, notes his contribution.

Humanitarian and environmental causes

William became aware of HIV/AIDS in the mid 1990s, when his mother began to take her two sons to visit shelters and clinics for those suffering from the disease. In January 2005, Prince William and his brother volunteered at a British Red Cross aid distribution centre to pack emergency supplies for countries that were affected by the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. Later, in September, William granted his patronage to Centrepoint, a charity that assists the homeless. During the period when his mother had been patron of Centrepoint, he had accompanied her on visits to its headquarters and projects.

William also worked in the children's unit at The Royal Marsden Hospital for two days of work experience in 2005, as well as helping out in the medical research, catering, and fund raising departments. The same year, he spent two weeks in North Wales with a mountain rescue team. In May 2007, William became patron of both organisations (his mother had also previously been patron of the Royal Marsden Hospital) and he became attracted to Mountain Rescue England and Wales in order to, in his words, "highlight and celebrate the vital, selfless and courageous work of our mountain rescue organisations".

The Prince also became a patron of the Tusk Trust in December 2005, a charity that works towards conserving wildlife and initiating community development, including providing education, across Africa. William became associated with the organisation after he witnessed its work first hand when he was in Africa. Saying "rural African initiatives that foster education, responsibility and participation in the local community light the way to conservation", he carried out his first official duty with the trust in launching a bike ride across the African continent in 2007.

Sports

William plays polo for charitable causes and is a fan of football, supporting Aston Villa F.C. In May 2006, he became President of England's Football Association and vice royal patron of the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) in February 2007 (supporting the Queen as patron of the WRU). The same year, the WRU's decision to name a new cup for test matches between Wales and South Africa the Prince William Cup caused controversy, with some believing it would have been more fitting to name the trophy after Ray Gravell.

In 2006, the Prince, along with other Sandhurst officers, took part in running one mile to support the charity Sport Relief, as he had done in 2004 with a team from Clarence House. In May 2007, William became patron of the English Schools' Swimming Association.

William is a noted follower of various packs of foxhounds throughout England and Wales, including the Duke of Beaufort's Hunt, with his father and brother since he was a very young child.

The Prince and his brother are both enthusiastic motorcyclists, with the Prince owning a Ducati 1198 S Corse.

Relationship with Catherine Middleton

During his years at university, William participated in university life; of himself he said: "I'm not a party animal, despite what some people might think." Like his father before him, William's private life became the subject of tabloid speculation, especially around his relationship with Catherine Middleton, who had been one of William's university flatmates and whom William began dating in 2003. Middleton attended the Prince's passing-out parade at Sandhurst, marking the first high-profile event that she attended as William's guest. The relationship between Prince William and Middleton was followed so closely that bookmakers took bets on the possibility of a Royal Wedding and the retail chain Woolworths produced memorabilia bearing the likenesses of the couple. though in June, Middleton attended a party at Lulworth Army Barracks as the guest of Prince William, and in July the Concert for Diana, which had been organised by Princes William and Harry. In August, she accompanied William on holiday in the island of Des Roches in the Seychelles, and in October she joined Prince Charles and Prince Harry for a shooting party at Balmoral. In June 2008, along with the Royal Family, Middleton attended William's investiture into the Order of the Garter.

Middleton was formally introduced to public life by William on 24 February 2011 when she and William attended a lifeboat naming ceremony in Trearddur, North Wales.

Engagement and wedding

On 16 November 2010 it was announced by Clarence House that William and Middleton were to marry. The engagement ring given to Middleton was the 18 carat sapphire engagement ring of Diana, Princess of Wales; two studs were fastened inside the ring to make it fit Catherine's thinner ringfinger. Clarence House, the official residence of Charles and his sons William and Harry, announced on the same day that the couple became engaged in Kenya in October, as Prince William confirmed in a widely circulated television interview beamed from London.

The wedding took place on 29 April 2011 in Westminster Abbey, London. The day was made a bank holiday in the UK. Estimates of the global audience for the wedding range from 300 million to two billion people, whilst 24.5 million watched the event live in the United Kingdom.

A few hours before the wedding, it was announced that William had become Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn and Baron Carrickfergus, as is customary for princes on the occasion of their weddings.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

name	The Duke of Cambridge
dipstyle	His Royal Highness
offstyle	Your Royal Highness
altstyle	Sir }}

21 June 1982 29 April 2011: ''His Royal Highness'' Prince William of Wales 29 April 2011 present: ''His Royal Highness'' The Duke of Cambridge

The Prince's style and title in full is ''His Royal Highness Prince William Arthur Philip Louis, Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn, Baron Carrickfergus, Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter''. As a British prince, William does not use a surname for everyday purposes. For formal and ceremonial purposes, the children of Princes of Wales, like the children of Royal Dukes, use the title of Prince or Princess before their Christian name and their father's territorial designation after it. So Prince William was "Prince William of Wales". Such area-based surnames are discarded by women when they marry and by men if they are given a peerage of their own, such as when Prince William was given his dukedom.

For the male-line grandchildren of Elizabeth II, however, there is currently some uncertainty over the correct form of family surname to use, or whether there even is a surname. The Queen has stipulated all her male-line descendants ''who do not bear the titular dignity of prince'' shall use Mountbatten-Windsor as their family surname (although Letters Patent exist stipulating the name Windsor, but with the same caveat). According to their flight suits as seen in television interviews (before Prince William's creation as Duke of Cambridge), Princes William and Harry use Wales as their surname for military purposes. On the morning of his wedding, the Queen conferred the titles Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn, Baron Carrickfergus upon William. Once he becomes heir to the throne, it is expected that he will be invested as Prince of Wales, although this is not automatic. In addition, on his father's accession to the throne, William, as the eldest son of the sovereign, will become Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay. If William succeeds to the throne and uses his first given name as his regnal name, he would be known as ''William V''.

William succeeded Lord Attenborough in 2010 as the fifth President of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

Military ranks

January 2006 16 December 2006: Officer Cadet 16 December 2006 16 December 2006: Cornet (Second Lieutenant), The Blues and Royals (short service commission) 16 December 2006 1 January 2009 : Lieutenant, The Blues and Royals 1 January 2008 1 January 2009: Flying Officer, Royal Air Force 1 January 2008 1 January 2009 : Sub-Lieutenant, Royal Navy 1 January 2009 present: Lieutenant, Royal Navy 1 January 2009 present: Captain, The Blues and Royals (and transferred to a full regular commission) 1 January 2009 present: Flight Lieutenant, Royal Air Force

Honours

;Appointments 23 April 2008 present: Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter (KG) 6 July 2009 present: Member of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple 6 July 2009 present: Bencher of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple 23 June 2010 present: Royal Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS)

Prince William, upon his appointment to the order, became the 1,000th member of the register of the Order of the Garter; he was officially invested by the Queen into the order on 16 June 2008, at a service at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. The last time a monarch had appointed a grandchild into the Order of the Garter was in 1894, when Queen Victoria invested Prince Alfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

;Medals

;Foreign honours 6 July 2008: Joint Service Achievement Medal

Honorary military appointments

; Canada 10 November 2009 present: Canadian Ranger

; United Kingdom 8 August 2006 present: Commodore-in-Chief of HMNB Clyde 8 August 2006 present: Commodore-in-Chief of the Royal Navy Submarine Service 8 August 2006 present: Commodore-in-Chief of Scotland 3 October 2008 present: Honorary Air Commandant of RAF Coningsby 10 February 2011 present: Colonel of the Irish Guards

Honorific eponyms

;Awards : Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Award, University of Waterloo, Waterloo

Arms

Bannerimage	Royal Standard of Prince William.svg
Notes	On his 18th birthday, Prince William was granted his own personalised coat of arms; these consist of the escutcheon of the arms of the sovereign in right of the United Kingdom with a label for difference.
Year adopted	21 June 2000
Escutcheon	Quarterly 1st and 4th Gules, three lions passant guardant in pale or (England) Or, a lion rampant within a double tressure flory counterflory gules (Scotland) Azure, a harp or stringed argent (Ireland).
Orders	The Order of the Garter ribbon.HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE''(Shame be to him who thinks evil of it)''
Other elements	The whole distinguished by a label of three points argent, the central point charged with an escallop gules.
Banner	The Duke of Cambridge's personal Royal Standard is that of the sovereign in right of the United Kingdom, labelled for difference as in his arms. 50px As Earl of Strathearn, the personal standard in Scotland follows the pattern of the UK Royal Standard used in Scotland, labelled for difference.
Symbolism	As the eldest son of the Prince of Wales, Prince William's coat of arms has a label of three points. The ''escallop'' (seashell) alludes to his late mother Diana, Princess of Wales, whose Spencer coat of arms includes three ''escallops argent''.
Previous versions	}}

Personal standard for Canada

The Duke of Cambridge also holds a personal royal standard for Canada, consisting of the shield of the Canadian Royal Arms defaced with both a blue roundel surrounded by a wreath of gold maple leaves and shells, within which is a depiction William's cypher (a ''W'' surmounted by a coronet), and a white label of three points, charged with a red shell.

Ancestry

William is a male line descendant of Elimar I, Count of Oldenburg, and as such a member of the House of Oldenburg, one of Europe's oldest royal houses, and more specifically the cadet branch known as the House of Glücksburg, founded by his paternal ancestor Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. William belongs to the Royal Family of Windsor. His male line ancestors include five kings—Christian I of Denmark, Frederick I of Denmark, Christian III of Denmark, Christian IX of Denmark and George I of Greece—and also 11 counts of Oldenburg, two dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg, five dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck and one duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.

Among his other recent, cognatic ancestors on his father's side are notably members of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the House of Battenberg, the main line of the House of Hesse-Darmstadt, the House of Hesse-Kassel and the House of Hohenzollern. Among his distant cognatic ancestors are also Henry IV and James II and VII. Should he become king, William would be the first monarch since Queen Anne to be descended from Charles I and Charles II, as his mother was descended from two of Charles's II illegitimate sons, Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton, and Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond. Through his father, William is of German and English descent, and through his mother's family, the Spencers, William is of English descent and of remote Irish, Scottish and American descent.

He is also descended from many of the pre-Union monarchs of Scotland and the pre-Conquest monarchs of England, and many notable foreign monarchs including, Peter I of Russia ("Peter the Great"), Catherine II of Russia ("Catherine the Great"), Nicholas I of Russia, Afonso I of Portugal, Andrew II of Hungary, Ferdinand II of Aragon, Isabella I of Castile, and early French kings.

See also

Royal William, a German red rose named after Prince William shortly after his birth

Notes

References

External links

Royal.gov.uk – Prince William

Prince of Wales.gov.uk – Prince William

Monarchy Wales – leading campaign organisation

Illustrated biography of Prince William

Prince William graduates from RMAS

Prince William talks with NBC's Matt Lauer

|- in England and Wales and in Northern Ireland |- |- |- |- |-

Category:1982 births Category:Alumni of the University of St Andrews Category:Blues and Royals officers Category:British water polo players Category:Dukes of Cambridge Category:Earls or mormaers of Strathearn Category:English Anglicans Category:English polo players Category:Royal Fellows of the Royal Society Category:Knights of the Garter Category:Living people Category:House of Windsor Category:Mountbatten-Windsor family Category:Old Etonians Category:Old Ludgrovians Category:People from London Category:Presidents of the Football Association Category:Princes of the United Kingdom Category:Royal Air Force officers Category:Royal Navy officers Category:Sandhurst graduates Category:Helicopter pilots Category:People educated at Wetherby School *

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Coordinates	21°28′14″N158°12′51″N
name	Prince Harry of Wales
imgw	220
full name	Henry Charles Albert David|groupfn|namesur}}

| styles = ''HRH'' Prince Henry of Wales | house = House of Windsor | father = Charles, Prince of Wales | mother = Diana, Princess of Wales | birth_date = September 15, 1984 | birth_place = St Mary's Hospital, London | place of christening = St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle |}}

Prince Henry of Wales (Henry Charles Albert David; born 15 September 1984), commonly known as Prince Harry, is the younger son of Charles, Prince of Wales and the late Diana, Princess of Wales, and fourth grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. As such, he is third in the line of succession (behind his father and elder brother) to the thrones of sixteen independent sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis. Consequently, he is also third in line, again behind his father and elder brother, to the position Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

After an education at various schools around the United Kingdom and spending parts of his gap year in Australia and Lesotho, Harry, unlike his elder brother, Prince William, eschewed a university education in favour of following in the footsteps of various royal men by enrolling in the military. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Blues and Royals of the Household Cavalry Regiment—serving temporarily with his brother—and completed his training as a tank commander. He served for 77 days on the front line in the Afghan War, although he was pulled out following publication of the story in an Australian magazine.

Early life

Harry was born at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, London, England, on 15 September 1984, weighing 6 lb 15oz. He was baptised at St George's Chapel, in Windsor Castle, by then Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie. Harry's godparents were Prince Andrew (his paternal uncle); Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones (his paternal cousin); Lady Vestey; Mrs. William Bartholomew; Bryan Organ; and Gerald Ward.

Persistent suggestions, based on a similarity of hair colour, have been made that Harry's father is not Charles but James Hewitt, with whom Diana had an affair. However, red hair is known to be a Spencer family trait, and Hewitt stated to the press in 2002 that Harry had already been born by the time his affair with Diana began, a statement corroborated by Diana's police bodyguard.

There really is no possibility whatsoever that I am Harry's father. I can absolutely assure you that I am not...I can understand the interest but Harry was already walking by the time my relationship with Diana began. Admittedly the red hair is similar to mine and people say we look alike. I have never encouraged these comparisons and although I was with Diana for a long time I must state once and for all that I'm not Harry's father. - ''James Hewitt''

Diana wanted William and Harry to have a broader range of experiences than previous royal children and took both to venues that ranged from Disney World and McDonald's to AIDS clinics and shelters for the homeless. Diana, Princess of Wales, who was by then divorced from the Prince of Wales, died in a car collision in 1997. Harry, his brother and their father were staying at Balmoral Castle at the time, and the Prince of Wales waited until early the following morning to tell his sons about their mother's death. At his mother's funeral, Harry accompanied his father, brother, paternal grandfather, and maternal uncle in walking behind the funeral cortège from Kensington Palace to Westminster Abbey.

Education

Like his father and elder brother, Harry was educated at public schools, starting at Jane Mynors' nursery school and the pre-preparatory Wetherby School, both in London. Following this, he attended Ludgrove School, and, after passing the entrance exams, was admitted to Eton College, where he studied geography, art history, and art at A-Level. The decision to place Harry in Eton went against the family tradition of sending royal children to Gordonstoun (Harry's grandfather, father, two uncles, and two cousins all attended); it did, however, make the Prince follow in the Spencer family footsteps, as both Diana's father and brother had attended Eton. In June 2003, he completed his education at Eton with two A-Levels, obtaining a B in art, and a D in geography, having decided to drop history of art after AS level. He excelled in sports, particularly polo and rugby union. .

After graduation, Harry took a gap year, during which he spent time in Australia, working (as his father had done in his youth) on a cattle station and participating in the Young England vs Young Australia Polo Test Match. He also travelled to Lesotho, where he worked with orphaned children and produced the documentary film ''The Forgotten Kingdom'' and holidayed in Argentina.

Royal duties and career

Prince Harry began to accompany his parents on official visits at an early age; his first overseas royal tour was with his parents to Italy in 1985. The earlier decision made by the Princess of Wales to take an infant William to Australia set the precedent for young royal children going on official visits. Harry then accompanied either both parents or his father on subsequent tours, though he did not begin solo official engagements until after his military training and active service. In August 1995, at the age of 10, Prince Harry attended the 50th anniversary of Victory over Japan Day at the Cenotaph in London. There he saluted the officers in the military parade, one of the most important ceremonies in the royal family agenda. In 2008, he began to undertake royal visits to schools and organisations in Wales.

Military career

Prince Harry entered the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst on 8 May 2005, where he was known as Officer Cadet Wales, and joined the Alamein Company. Within a year, in April 2006, Harry completed his officer's training and was commissioned as a Cornet in the Blues and Royals, a regiment of the Household Cavalry in the British Army. By April 2008, whereupon he reached two years' seniority, Harry was promoted to the rank of lieutenant.

The British Ministry of Defence and Clarence House made a joint announcement on 22 February 2007 that Prince Harry would be deployed with his regiment to the front line in Iraq, to serve as part of the 1st Mechanised Brigade of the 3rd Mechanised Divisiona move supported by Harry, who had stated that he would leave the army if he was told to remain in safety while his regiment went to war; he said: "There's no way I'm going to put myself through Sandhurst and then sit on my arse back home while my boys are out fighting for their country." Then head of the British army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, first said on 30 April 2007 that he had personally decided that the Prince would serve with his unit in Iraq, and Harry was scheduled for deployment in May or June 2007, to patrol the Maysan province. By 16 May, however, Dannatt announced that Prince Harry would not serve in Iraq; concerns included Harry being a high-value target (as several threats by various groups have already been made against him) and the dangers the soldiers around him would face should any attempt be made on the Prince's life or capture. Clarence House made public the Prince's disappointment with the decision, though he said he would abide by it. In May 2007, British soldiers in Iraq were reported to be wearing t-shirts bearing the statement "I'm Harry!"; a reference to the scene in the movie ''Spartacus'' in which the survivors of Spartacus's army, defeated by Roman legions, are offered leniency by Crassus if they will identify their leader. Every survivor declares: "I'm Spartacus!"

It was reported, in early June 2007, that Prince Harry had arrived in Canada to train, alongside soldiers of the Canadian Forces and British Army, at Canadian Forces base Suffield, near Medicine Hat, Alberta. It was said that this was in preparation for a tour of duty in Afghanistan, where Canadian and British forces were participating in the NATO led Afghan War; rumours that were confirmed in February the following year, when the British Ministry of Defence revealed that Harry had secretly been deployed as a Forward Air Controller to Helmand Province in the Asian country. The revelation came after the medianotably, the German newspaper ''Bild'' and Australian magazine ''New Idea'' breached the blackout placed over the information by the Canadian and British authorities. It was later reported that, while in Afghanistan, Harry had called in United States Air Force air strikes, helped Gurkha troops repel an attack from Taliban insurgents, and performed patrol duty in hostile areas. His tour came 735 years after his ancestor, Edward I of England (then Prince Edward), had also been on military duty in the Middle East during the Ninth crusade, and also made Harry the first member of the Royal Family to have served in a war zone since his uncle, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, flew helicopters during the Falklands War; at the time, Andrew was second in line to the thrones of the Commonwealth realms. For his service, Prince Harry was decorated with the Operational Service Medal for Afghanistan by his aunt, the Princess Royal, at the Combermere Barracks in May 2008.

In October 2008, the news was revealed that Prince Harry was to follow his brother, father, and uncle with the wish to fly military helicopters. After passing the initial aptitude test, he was to undertake a month-long course; depending on whether or not he passed that course he would proceed onto full flight training in early 2009. Harry had to pass his flying assessment at the Army Air Corps Base (AAC), Middle Wallop, the result of which determined if he would pass on to train as a pilot of either the Apache, Lynx, or Gazelle helicopter.

Prince Harry was presented with his flying brevet (wings) by his father, on 7 May 2010 at a ceremony at the Army Air Corps Base (AAC), Middle Wallop. Prince Harry had also let it be known that he intended to fly Apache attack helicopters if he was successful in passing the rigorous Apache training course; after which time it could be possible for him to see active military service once again on the frontline in one of the warzones. During the ceremony, he switched his Blues and Royals' Officer's Service Dress cap for that of the Army Air Corps' sky blue beret with a Blues and Royals badge.

On 10 March 2011, it was revealed that Prince Harry had passed his Apache flying test and he was awarded his Apache Flying Badge on 14 April 2011. There is speculation that he shall return to Afghanistan once again before the withdrawal in 2015. On 16 April 2011 it was announced that Prince Harry had been promoted to the Army rank of Captain after having held the rank of Lieutenant since 2008.

In June 2011, Clarence House announced that Prince Harry on completion of his training conversion course to use Apache helicopters in the war arena would be available for deployment, including in current operations in Afghanistan in his role as an Apache helicopter pilot. The final decision will ultimately rest with the Ministry of Defence's senior commanders including principally the Chief of the Defence Staff in consultation with the wishes of Harry, his father the Prince of Wales and The Queen.

Royal duties

At the age of 23, Prince Harry was appointed as a Counsellor of State, and began his royal duties by first serving in that capacity when the Queen was abroad to attend the 2005 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta. The following year, Harry was in Lesotho to visit again Mants'ase Children's Home near Mohale's Hoek (which he first toured in 2004), and along with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho launched Sentebale: The Princes' Fund for Lesotho, a charity to aid children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. He has also granted his patronage to a number of other organisations, including WellChild, Dolen Cymru, and MapAction. To aid Sentebale, as well as the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund and Centrepoint, Harry and his brother organised the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium, on 1 July 2007.

Sports have also been a way that Harry has helped charities and other organisations, such as when he trained as a Rugby Development Officer for the Rugby Football Union in 2004 and then coached students in schools in order to encourage them to learn the sport. He has also participated in polo matches, like his brother and father, in order to raise money for charitable causes.

On 6 January 2009, Harry and his brother Prince William were granted their own royal household by their grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. It has three main staff members, supported by a "small" team. Sir David Manning, the former British ambassador to Washington, will work as a part-time adviser to the princes. Previously, William and Harry's affairs had been handled by the office of their father at Clarence House in central London. The brothers' new household released a statement complete with their own cyphers at the top announcing that they have established their own office at nearby St. James's Palace to look after their public, military and charitable activities. Harry's cypher is similar to his brother's, but displays an ''H'' in a shade of blue similar to that used by his mother.

Personal life and relationships

Prince Harry has spent much of his free time in sporting activities, playing competitive polo, as well as skiing and motocross. Harry also earned a reputation in his youth for being rebellious, leading the tabloid press to label him as a "wild child". He was found at age 17 smoking cannabis and partaking in under-age drinking with his friends, would clash physically with paparazzi outside nightclubs, and was photographed at Highgrove House at a "Colonial and Native" themed costume party wearing a Nazi German Afrika Korps uniform with a swastika armband. He later issued a public statement apologizing for his behaviour.

Prince Harry is a supporter of Arsenal Football Club.

In January 2009, the British tabloid ''News of the World'' revealed a video made by Harry three years previously, in which he referred to a Pakistani fellow officer cadet as "our little Paki friend" and later called a soldier wearing a cloth on his head a "raghead". These terms were described by David Cameron as "unacceptable", and by ''The Daily Telegraph'' as "racist", and a British Muslim youth organisation called the Prince a "thug", a statement that was later retracted. Clarence House immediately issued an apology from Harry, who stated that no malice was intended in his remarks. A former British MP and Royal Marine, Rod Richards, said that such nicknames were common amongst military comrades, stating "in the Armed Forces people often used to call me Taffy. Others were called Yankie, Oz or Kiwi or whatever. I consider Paki as an abbreviation for Pakistani. I don't think on this occasion it was intended to be offensive." It later emerged that Prince Harry had personally apologised to the soldier.

While Harry's personal relationships have not been followed as much as those of his brother, most media attention has been focused on his relationship with Chelsy Davy. In an interview conducted for his 21st birthday, Harry referred to Davy as his girlfriend, and the press reported at that time that the couple had been together for 18 months, contradicting earlier reports that they were no longer together. Harry and Davy were also seen together publicly at the Concert for Diana. Chelsy also accompanied Harry to the wedding of Harry's cousin, Peter Phillips to Autumn Kelly in May 2008, where she was introduced to the Queen for the first time. But, in early 2009 it was reported in the media that the pair had parted ways. Later that year the pair was photographed together at a rugby match, seemingly going public again with their relationship.As of 2010, Harry and Davy are no longer together following Davy's departure from England. In 2011, Harry confirmed the rumors by proclaiming himself "100% single."

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

name	Prince Henry of Wales
dipstyle	His Royal Highness
offstyle	Your Royal Highness
altstyle	Sir }}

15 September 1984: ''His Royal Highness'' Prince Henry of Wales

The Prince's style and title in full is ''His Royal Highness Prince Henry Charles Albert David of Wales''. As a British prince, Harry holds no surname; however, as with the other male-line grandchildren of Elizabeth II, he uses the name of the area over which his father holds title, i.e. ''Wales''. Past precedent is that such surnames are dropped from usage in adulthood, after which either title alone, or Mountbatten-Windsor is used when necessary. Prince Harry, however, continues to use Wales as his surname for military purposes and is known as Captain Harry Wales in such contexts. If his father succeeds to the throne he will be known as ''His Royal Highness'' The Prince Henry. Traditionally, male-line members of British royalty receive a dukedom a few hours before their marriage, the most recent being Prince William of Wales, who became Duke of Cambridge.

Military ranks

13 April 2006 13 April 2008: Cornet (Second Lieutenant), The Blues and Royals 13 April 2008 16 April 2011: Lieutenant, The Blues and Royals 16 April 2011present: Captain, The Blues and Royals attached to Army Air Corps

Honours

;Medals 30px 5 May 2008: Operational Service Medal for Afghanistan

Honorary military appointments

; Canada 10 November 2009: Canadian Ranger

; United Kingdom 3 October 2008: Honorary Air Commandant of RAF Honington 8 August 2006: Commodore-in-Chief of Small Ships and Diving

Arms

Notes	On his 18th birthday, Prince Harry was granted his own personal coat of arms, consisting of the arms of the sovereign in right of the United Kingdom with a label for difference.
Year adopted	15 September 2002
Escutcheon	Quarterly 1st and 4th gules three lions passant guardant in pale or armed and langed azure 2nd or a lion rampant gules armed and langued azure within a double tressure flory counterflory of the second 3rd azure a harp or stringed argent
Other elements	The whole differenced by a Label of five points Argent the first, third and fifth points charged with an Escallop Gules
Symbolism	As the grandchild of the sovereign, Prince Harry's coat of arms has a label of five points. The ''escallops'' (seashells) allude to his late mother Diana, Princess of Wales, whose Spencer coat of arms includes three ''escallops argent''.
Previous versions	}}

Ancestry

{{ahnentafel-compact5 |style=font-size: 90%; line-height: 110%; |border=1 |boxstyle=padding-top: 0; padding-bottom: 0; |boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc; |boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9; |boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc; |boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc; |boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe; |1= 1. Prince Harry of Wales |2= 2. Charles, Prince of Wales |3= 3. Lady Diana Frances Spencer |4= 4. Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark |5= 5. Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom |6= 6. John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer |7= 7. Frances Ruth Burke Roche |8= 8. Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark |9= 9. Princess Alice of Battenberg |10= 10. King George VI of the United Kingdom |11= 11. Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon |12= 12. Albert Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer |13= 13. Cynthia Elinor Hamilton |14= 14. Maurice Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy |15= 15. Ruth Sylvia Gill |16= 16. King George I of Greece |17= 17. Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia |18= 18. Prince Louis of Battenberg |19= 19. Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine |20= 20. King George V of the United Kingdom |21= 21. Mary of Teck |22= 22. Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne |23= 23. Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck |24= 24. Charles Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer |25= 25. Margaret Baring |26= 26. James Hamilton, 3rd Duke of Abercorn |27= 27. Rosalind Cecilia Bingham |28= 28. James Roche, 3rd Baron Fermoy |29= 29. Frances Work |30= 30. William Smith Gill |31= 31. Ruth Littlejohn }}

Through his paternal grandfather, Prince Harry is descended from King Henry IV, King Charles II and King James II and VII. Through his mother, Harry is of English descent and of remote Irish and Scottish descent.

Prince Harry is descended from the kings and queens of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom with surviving offspring from William I. He is also descended from many of the pre-Union monarchs of Scotland and the pre-Conquest monarchs of England.

See also

British prince

British Royal Family

Canadian Royal Family

Line of succession to the British Throne

Genealogy of the British Royal Family

Notes

References

External links

Prince Harry's eulogy to Princess Diana delivered on 31 August 2007

Prince Harry's interview with NBC's Matt Lauer

Royal.gov.uk – Prince Harry

Prince Harry at His Hottest – slideshow by ''Life magazine''

Personal Profile – Prince Harry – From Prince of Wales official Site

Illustrated biography of Prince Harry

Prince Harry Not Going to Iraq on Time.com (a division of Time Magazine)

Category:1984 births Category:Living people Category:Blues and Royals officers Category:British Army Air Corps officers Category:English Anglicans Category:House of Windsor Category:Mountbatten-Windsor family Category:Old Etonians Category:Old Ludgrovians Category:People from Paddington Category:Princes of the United Kingdom Category:Sandhurst graduates Category:British Army personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present) Category:Helicopter pilots Category:People educated at Wetherby School

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Coordinates	21°28′14″N158°12′51″N
birth date	December 18, 1946
birth place	Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
nationality	American
spouse
children	6, including Sasha
occupation	Film director, producer, screenwriter
education	Saratoga High School
alma mater	California State University, Long Beach
religion	Jewish
networth	$3.0 billion (2011)
years active	1963–present }}

Steven Allan Spielberg (born December 18, 1946) is an American film director, screenwriter, film producer, video game designer and studio executive. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an archetype of modern Hollywood blockbuster filmmaking. In later years, his films began addressing such issues as the Holocaust, slavery, war and terrorism. He is considered one of the most popular and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. He is also one of the co-founders of the DreamWorks movie studio.

Spielberg won the Academy Award for Best Director for ''Schindler's List'' (1993) and ''Saving Private Ryan'' (1998). Three of Spielberg's films—''Jaws'' (1975), ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (1982), and ''Jurassic Park'' (1993)—achieved box office records, each becoming the highest-grossing film made at the time. To date, the unadjusted gross of all Spielberg-directed films exceeds $8.5 billion worldwide. Forbes puts Spielberg's wealth at $3.0 billion.

Early life

Spielberg was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to a Jewish family. His mother, Leah Adler, was a restaurateur and concert pianist, and his father, Arnold Spielberg, was an electrical engineer involved in the development of computers. He spent his childhood in Haddon Township, New Jersey, where he saw one of his first films in a theater, as well as in Scottsdale, Arizona. Throughout his early teens, Spielberg made amateur 8 mm "adventure" films with his friends, the first of which he shot at the Pinnacle Peak Patio restaurant in Scottsdale. He charged admission (25 cents) to his home films (which involved the wrecks he staged with his Lionel train set) while his sister sold popcorn.

In 1958, he became a Boy Scout, and fulfilled a requirement for the photography merit badge by making a nine-minute 8 mm film entitled ''The Last Gunfight''. Spielberg recalled years later to a magazine interviewer, "My dad's still-camera was broken, so I asked the scoutmaster if I could tell a story with my father's movie camera. He said yes, and I got an idea to do a Western. I made it and got my merit badge. That was how it all started." At age 13, Spielberg won a prize for a 40-minute war film he titled ''Escape to Nowhere'' which was based on a battle in east Africa. In 1963, at age 16, Spielberg wrote and directed his first independent film, a 140-minute science fiction adventure called ''Firelight'' (which would later inspire ''Close Encounters''). The film, which had a budget of US$500, was shown in his local cinema and generated a profit of $1. He also made several WWII films inspired by his father's war stories.

After his parents divorced, he moved to Saratoga, California with his father. His three sisters and mother remained in Arizona. Although he attended Arcadia High School in Phoenix, Arizona for three years, Spielberg ended up graduating from Saratoga High School in 1965. It was during this time Spielberg attained the rank of Eagle Scout.

Spielberg attended synagogue as a young boy in Haddon Heights, NJ, an area which did not allow Jews before World War II. He attended Hebrew school from 1953 to 1957, in classes taught by Rabbi Albert L. Lewis, who would later be memorialized as the main character in Mitch Albom's, ''Have a Little Faith''.

As a child, Spielberg faced difficulty reconciling being an Orthodox Jew with the perception of him by other children he played with. “It isn’t something I enjoy admitting,” he once said, “but when I was 7, 8, 9 years old, God forgive me, I was embarrassed because we were Orthodox Jews. I was embarrassed by the outward perception of my parents’ Jewish practices. I was never really ashamed to be Jewish, but I was uneasy at times. My grandfather always wore a long black coat, black hat and long white beard. I was embarrassed to invite my friends over to the house, because he might be in a corner davening [praying], and I wouldn’t know how to explain this to my WASP friends.” Spielberg also said he suffered from acts of anti-Semitic prejudice in his early life: he later said, "In high school, I got smacked and kicked around. Two bloody noses. It was horrible."

After moving to California, he applied to attend the film school at University of Southern California School of Theater, Film and Television two separate times, but was unsuccessful. He was a student subsequently of California State University, Long Beach. While attending Long Beach State in the 1960s, Spielberg became a member of Theta Chi Fraternity. His actual career began when he returned to Universal Studios as an unpaid, seven-day-a-week intern and guest of the editing department (uncredited). After Spielberg became famous, USC awarded him an honorary degree in 1994, and in 1996 he became a trustee of the university. In 2002, thirty-five years after starting college, Spielberg finished his degree via independent projects at CSULB, and was awarded a B.A. in Film Production and Electronic Arts with an option in Film/Video Production.

As an intern and guest of Universal Studios, Spielberg made his first short film for theatrical release, the 26 minute film ''Amblin''' (1968), the title of which Spielberg later took as the name of his production company, Amblin Entertainment. After Sidney Sheinberg, then the vice-president of production for Universal's TV arm, saw the film, Spielberg became the youngest director ever to be signed for a long-term deal with a major Hollywood studio (Universal). He dropped out of Long Beach State in 1969 to take up the television director contract at Universal Studios and began his career as a professional director. In 1969, ''Variety'' announced that Spielberg would direct his first full length film, ''Malcolm Winkler'', written by Claudia Salter, produced by John Orland, with Frank Price being the executive producer. However, because of the difficulty in casting the key male role, the film was not made. Steven Spielberg also attended Brookdale Community College for undergrad.

Career

Early career (1969–75)

His first professional TV job came when he was hired to do one of the segments for the 1969 pilot episode of ''Night Gallery''. The segment, "Eyes," starred Joan Crawford, and she and Spielberg were reportedly close friends until her death. The episode is unusual in his body of work, in that the camerawork is more highly stylized than his later, more "mature" films. After this, and an episode of ''Marcus Welby, M.D.'', Spielberg got his first feature-length assignment: an episode of ''The Name of the Game'' called "L.A. 2017". This futuristic science fiction episode impressed Universal Studios and they signed him to a short contract. He did another segment on ''Night Gallery'' and did some work for shows such as ''Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law'' and ''The Psychiatrist'' before landing the first series episode of ''Columbo'' (previous episodes were actually TV films).

Based on the strength of his work, Universal signed Spielberg to do four TV films. The first was a Richard Matheson adaptation called ''Duel''. The film is about a psychotic Peterbilt 281 tanker truck driver who chases a terrified driver (Dennis Weaver) of a small Plymouth Valiant and tries to run him off the road. Special praise of this film by the influential British critic Dilys Powell was highly significant to Spielberg's career. Another TV film (''Something Evil'') was made and released to capitalize on the popularity of ''The Exorcist'', then a major best-selling book which had not yet been released as a film. He fulfilled his contract by directing the TV film length pilot of a show called ''Savage'', starring Martin Landau. Spielberg's debut feature film was ''The Sugarland Express'', about a married couple who are chased by police as the couple tries to regain custody of their baby. Spielberg's cinematography for the police chase was praised by reviewers, and ''The Hollywood Reporter'' stated that "a major new director is on the horizon." However, the film fared poorly at the box office and received a limited release.

Studio producers Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown offered Spielberg the director's chair for ''Jaws'', a thriller-horror film based on the Peter Benchley novel about an enormous killer shark. Spielberg has often referred to the gruelling shoot as his professional crucible. Despite the film's ultimate, enormous success, it was nearly shut down due to delays and budget over-runs.

But Spielberg persevered and finished the film. It was an enormous hit, winning three Academy Awards (for editing, original score and sound) and grossing more than $470 million worldwide at the box office. It also set the domestic record for box office gross, leading to what the press described as "Jawsmania." ''Jaws'' made him a household name, as well as one of America's youngest multi-millionaires, and allowed Spielberg a great deal of autonomy for his future projects. It was nominated for Best Picture and featured Spielberg's first of three collaborations with actor Richard Dreyfuss.

Mainstream breakthrough (1975–93)

Rejecting offers to direct ''Jaws 2'', ''King Kong'' and ''Superman'', Spielberg and actor Richard Dreyfuss re-convened to work on a film about UFOs, which became ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' (1977). One of the rare films both written and directed by Spielberg, ''Close Encounters'' was a critical and box office hit, giving Spielberg his first Best Director nomination from the Academy as well as earning six other Academy Awards nominations. It won Oscars in two categories (Cinematography, Vilmos Zsigmond, and a Special Achievement Award for Sound Effects Editing, Frank E. Warner). This second blockbuster helped to secure Spielberg's rise. His next film, ''1941'', a big-budgeted World War II farce, was not nearly as successful and though it grossed over $92.4 million dollars worldwide (and did make a small profit for co-producing studios Columbia and Universal) it was seen as a disappointment, mainly with the critics.

Spielberg then revisited his ''Close Encounters'' project and, with financial backing from Columbia Pictures, released ''Close Encounters: The Special Edition'' in 1980. For this, Spielberg fixed some of the flaws he thought impeded the original 1977 version of the film and also, at the behest of Columbia, and as a condition of Spielberg revising the film, shot additional footage showing the audience the interior of the mothership seen at the end of the film (a decision Spielberg would later regret as he felt the interior of the mothership should have remained a mystery). Nevertheless, the re-release was a moderate success, while the 2001 DVD release of the film restored the original ending.

Next, Spielberg teamed with ''Star Wars'' creator and friend George Lucas on an action adventure film, ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'', the first of the Indiana Jones films. The archaeologist and adventurer hero Indiana Jones was played by Harrison Ford (whom Lucas had previously cast in his ''Star Wars'' films as Han Solo). The film was considered an homage to the cliffhanger serials of the Golden Age of Hollywood. It became the biggest film at the box office in 1981, and the recipient of numerous Oscar nominations including Best Director (Spielberg's second nomination) and Best Picture (the second Spielberg film to be nominated for Best Picture). ''Raiders'' is still considered a landmark example of the action-adventure genre.

A year later, Spielberg returned to the science fiction genre with ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial''. It was the story of a young boy and the alien he befriends, who was accidentally left behind by his companions and is attempting to return home. ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' went on to become the top-grossing film of all time. ''E.T.'' was also nominated for nine Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director.

Between 1982 and 1985, Spielberg produced three high-grossing films: ''Poltergeist'' (for which he also co-wrote the screenplay), a big-screen adaptation of ''The Twilight Zone'' (for which he directed the segment "Kick The Can"), and ''The Goonies'' (Spielberg, executive producer, also wrote the story on which the screenplay was based).

His next directorial feature was the ''Raiders'' sequel ''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom''. Teaming up once again with Lucas and Ford, the film was plagued with uncertainty for the material and script. This film and the Spielberg-produced ''Gremlins'' led to the creation of the PG-13 rating due to the high level of violence in films targeted at younger audiences. In spite of this, ''Temple of Doom'' is rated PG by the MPAA, even though it is the darkest and, possibly, most violent Indy film. Nonetheless, the film was still a huge blockbuster hit in 1984. It was on this project that Spielberg also met his future wife, actress Kate Capshaw.

In 1985, Spielberg released ''The Color Purple,'' an adaptation of Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, about a generation of empowered African-American women during depression-era America. Starring Whoopi Goldberg and future talk-show superstar Oprah Winfrey, the film was a box office smash and critics hailed Spielberg's successful foray into the dramatic genre. Roger Ebert proclaimed it the best film of the year and later entered it into his Great Films archive. The film received eleven Academy Award nominations, including two for Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey. However, much to the surprise of many, Spielberg did not get a Best Director nomination. ''The Color Purple'' is the second of two Spielberg films not to be scored by John Williams, the first being ''Duel''.

In 1987, as China began opening to Western capital investment, Spielberg shot the first American film in Shanghai since the 1930s, an adaptation of J. G. Ballard's autobiographical novel ''Empire of the Sun'', starring John Malkovich and a young Christian Bale. The film garnered much praise from critics and was nominated for several Oscars, but did not yield substantial box office revenues. Reviewer Andrew Sarris called it the best film of the year and later included it among the best films of the decade.

After two forays into more serious dramatic films, Spielberg then directed the third Indiana Jones film, 1989's ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade''. Once again teaming up with Lucas and Ford, Spielberg also cast actor Sean Connery in a supporting role as Indy's father. The film earned generally positive reviews and was another box office success, becoming the highest grossing film worldwide that year; its total box office receipts even topped those of Tim Burton's much-anticipated film ''Batman'', which had been the bigger hit domestically. Also in 1989, he re-united with actor Richard Dreyfuss for the romantic comedy-drama ''Always'', about a daredevil pilot who extinguishes forest fires. Spielberg's first romantic film, ''Always'' was only a moderate success and had mixed reviews.

In 1991, Spielberg directed ''Hook'', about a middle-aged Peter Pan, played by Robin Williams, who returns to Neverland. Despite innumerable rewrites and creative changes coupled with mixed reviews, the film proved popular with audiences, making over $300 million worldwide (from a $70 million budget).

In 1993, Spielberg returned to the adventure genre with the film version of Michael Crichton's novel ''Jurassic Park'', about a theme park with genetically engineered dinosaurs. With revolutionary special effects provided by friend George Lucas's Industrial Light & Magic company, the film would eventually become the highest grossing film of all time (at the worldwide box office) with $914.7 million. This would be the third time that one of Spielberg's films became the highest grossing film ever.

Spielberg's next film, ''Schindler's List'', was based on the true story of Oskar Schindler, a man who risked his life to save 1,100 Jews from the Holocaust. ''Schindler's List'' earned Spielberg his first Academy Award for Best Director (it also won Best Picture). With the film a huge success at the box office, Spielberg used the profits to set up the Shoah Foundation, a non-profit organization that archives filmed testimony of Holocaust survivors. In 1997, the American Film Institute listed it among the 10 Greatest American Films ever Made (#9) which moved up to (#8) when the list was remade in 2007.

Since 1994

In 1994, Spielberg took a hiatus from directing to spend more time with his family and build his new studio, DreamWorks, with partners Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen. In 1997, he helmed the sequel to 1993's ''Jurassic Park'' with ''The Lost World: Jurassic Park'', which generated over $618 million worldwide despite mixed reviews, and was the second biggest hit of 1997 behind James Cameron's ''Titanic'' (which topped the original ''Jurassic Park'' to become the new recordholder for box office receipts).

His next film, ''Amistad'', was based on a true story (like ''Schindler's List''), specifically about an African slave rebellion. Despite decent reviews from critics, it did not do well at the box office. Spielberg released ''Amistad'' under DreamWorks Pictures, which issued all of his films from ''Amistad'' until ''Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'' in May 2008 (see below).

In 1998, Spielberg re-visited ''Close Encounters'' yet again, this time for a more definitive 137-minute "Collector's Edition" that puts more emphasis on the original 1977 release, while adding some elements of the previous 1980 "Special Edition," but deleting the latter version's "Mothership Finale," which Spielberg regretted shooting in the first place, feeling it should have remained ambiguous in the minds of viewers.

His next theatrical release in that same year was the World War II film ''Saving Private Ryan'', about a group of U.S. soldiers led by Capt. Miller (Tom Hanks) sent to bring home a paratrooper whose three older brothers were killed in the last twenty four hours of action in France. The film was a huge box office success, grossing over $481 million worldwide and was the biggest film of the year at the North American box office (worldwide it made second place after Michael Bay's ''Armageddon''). Spielberg won his second Academy Award for his direction. The film's graphic, realistic depiction of combat violence influenced later war films such as ''Black Hawk Down'' and ''Enemy at the Gates''. The film was also the first major hit for DreamWorks, which co-produced the film with Paramount Pictures (as such, it was Spielberg's first release from the latter that was not part of the ''Indiana Jones'' series). Later, Spielberg and Tom Hanks produced a TV mini-series based on Stephen Ambrose's book ''Band of Brothers''. The ten-part HBO mini-series follows Easy Company of the 101st Airborne Division's 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. The series won a number of awards at the Golden Globes and the Emmys.

In 2001, Spielberg filmed fellow director and friend Stanley Kubrick's final project, ''A.I. Artificial Intelligence'' which Kubrick was unable to begin during his lifetime. A futuristic film about a humanoid android longing for love, ''A.I.'' featured groundbreaking visual effects and a multi-layered, allegorical storyline, adapted by Spielberg himself. Though the film's reception in the US was relatively muted, it performed better overseas for a worldwide total box office gross of $236 million.

Spielberg and actor Tom Cruise collaborated for the first time for the futuristic neo-noir ''Minority Report'', based upon the sci-fi short story written by Philip K. Dick about a Washington D.C. police captain in the year 2054 who has been foreseen to murder a man he has not yet met. The film received strong reviews with the review tallying website Rotten Tomatoes giving it a 92% approval rating, reporting that 206 out of the 225 reviews they tallied were positive. The film earned over $358 million worldwide. Roger Ebert, who named it the best film of 2002, praised its breathtaking vision of the future as well as for the way Spielberg blended CGI with live-action.

Spielberg's 2002 film ''Catch Me If You Can'' is about the daring adventures of a youthful con artist (played by Leonardo DiCaprio). It earned Christopher Walken an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. The film is known for John Williams' score and its unique title sequence. It was a hit both commercially and critically.

Spielberg collaborated again with Tom Hanks along with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Stanley Tucci in 2004's ''The Terminal'', a warm-hearted comedy about a man of Eastern European descent who is stranded in an airport. It received mixed reviews but performed relatively well at the box office. In 2005, ''Empire'' magazine ranked Spielberg number one on a list of the greatest film directors of all time.

Also in 2005, Spielberg directed a modern adaptation of ''War of the Worlds'' (a co-production of Paramount and DreamWorks), based on the H. G. Wells book of the same name (Spielberg had been a huge fan of the book and the original 1953 film). It starred Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning, and, as with past Spielberg films, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) provided the visual effects. Unlike ''E.T.'' and ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'', which depicted friendly alien visitors, ''War of the Worlds'' featured violent invaders. The film was another huge box office smash, grossing over $591 million worldwide.

Spielberg's film ''Munich'', about the events following the 1972 Munich Massacre of Israeli athletes at the Olympic Games, was his second film essaying Jewish relations in the world (the first being ''Schindler's List''). The film is based on ''Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team'', a book by Canadian journalist George Jonas. It was previously adapted into the 1986 made-for-TV film ''Sword of Gideon''. The film received strong critical praise, but underperformed at the U.S. and world box-office; it remains one of Spielberg's most controversial films to date. Munich received five Academy Awards nominations, including Best Picture, Film Editing, Original Music Score (by John Williams), Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Director for Spielberg. It was Spielberg's sixth Best Director nomination and fifth Best Picture nomination.

Spielberg directed ''Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'', which wrapped filming in October 2007 and was released on May 22, 2008. This was his first film not to be released by DreamWorks since 1997. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, and has performed very well in theaters. As of May 10, 2010, ''Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'' has grossed $317 million domestically, and over $786 million worldwide.

Production credits

Since the mid-1980s Spielberg has increased his role as a film producer. He headed up the production team for several cartoons, including the Warner Brothers hits ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', ''Animaniacs'', ''Pinky and the Brain'', ''Toonsylvania'', and ''Freakazoid!'', for which he collaborated with Jean MacCurdy and Tom Ruegger. Due to his work on these series, in the official titles, most of them say, "Steven Spielberg presents" as well as making numerous cameos on the shows. Spielberg also produced the Don Bluth animated features, ''An American Tail'' and ''The Land Before Time'', which were released by Universal Studios. He also served as one of the executive producers of ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' and its three related shorts (''Tummy Trouble'', ''Roller Coaster Rabbit'', ''Trail Mix-Up''), which were all released by Disney, under both the Walt Disney Pictures and the Touchstone Pictures banners. He was furthermore, for a short time, the executive producer of the long-running medical drama ''ER''. In 1989, he brought the concept of ''The Dig'' to LucasArts. He contributed to the project from that time until 1995 when the game was released. He also collaborated with software publishers Knowledge Adventure on the multimedia game ''Steven Spielberg's Director's Chair'', which was released in 1996. Spielberg appears, as himself, in the game to direct the player. The Spielberg name provided branding for a Lego Moviemaker kit, the proceeds of which went to the Starbright Foundation.

In 1993, Spielberg acted as executive producer for the highly anticipated television series ''seaQuest DSV''; a science fiction series set "in the near future" starring Roy Scheider (who Spielberg had directed in ''Jaws'') and Jonathan Brandis akin to ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' that aired on Sundays at 8:00 pm. on NBC. While the first season was moderately successful, the second season did less well. Spielberg's name no longer appeared in the third season and the show was cancelled mid way through it.

Spielberg served as an uncredited executive producer on ''The Haunting'', ''The Prince of Egypt'', ''Just Like Heaven'', ''Shrek'', and ''Evolution''. He served as an executive producer for the 1998 film ''Men in Black'', and its sequels, ''Men in Black II'' and the upcoming ''Men in Black III''. In 2005, he served as a producer of ''Memoirs of a Geisha'', an adaptation of the novel by Arthur Golden, a film he was previously attached to as director. In 2006, Spielberg co-executive produced with famed filmmaker Robert Zemeckis a CGI children's film called ''Monster House'', marking their eight collaboration together since 1990's ''Back to the Future Part III''. He also teamed with Clint Eastwood for the first time in their careers, co-producing Eastwood's ''Flags of Our Fathers'' and ''Letters from Iwo Jima'' with Robert Lorenz and Eastwood himself. He earned his twelfth Academy Award nomination for the latter film as it was nominated for Best Picture. Spielberg served as executive producer for ''Disturbia'' and the ''Transformers'' live action film with Brian Goldner, an employee of Hasbro. The film was directed by Michael Bay and written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, and Spielberg continued to collaborate on the sequels, ''Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen'' and ''Transformers: Dark of the Moon''. In 2011, he produced the J. J. Abrams science fiction thriller film ''Super 8'' for Paramount Pictures.

Other major television series Spielberg produced were ''Band of Brothers'', ''Taken'' and ''The Pacific''. He was an executive producer on the critically acclaimed 2005 TV miniseries ''Into the West'' which won two Emmy awards, including one for Geoff Zanelli's score. For his 2010 miniseries ''The Pacific'' he teamed up once again with co-producer Tom Hanks, with Gary Goetzman also co-producing'. The miniseries is believed to have cost $250 million and is a 10-part war miniseries centered on the battles in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Writer Bruce McKenna, who penned several installments of (''Band of Brothers''), was the head writer.

In 2007, Steven Spielberg and Mark Burnett co-produced ''On the Lot'' a short-lived TV reality show about filmmaking. Despite this, he never gave up working on television. He currently serves as one of the executive producers on ''United States of Tara'', a show created by Academy Award winner Diablo Cody which they developed together (Spielberg is uncredited as creator).

In 2011, Spielberg launched ''Falling Skies'', a science fiction television series, on the TNT network. He developed the series with Robert Rodat and is credited as an executive producer.

Acting credits

Steven Spielberg had cameo roles in ''The Blues Brothers'', ''Gremlins'', ''Vanilla Sky'', and ''Austin Powers in Goldmember'', as well as small uncredited cameos in a handful of other films, such as a life-station worker in ''Jaws''. He also made numerous cameo roles in the Warner Brothers cartoons he produced, such as Animaniacs, and even made reference to some of his films. Spielberg voiced himself in the film ''Paul'', and in one episode of ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' titled ''Buster and Babs Go Hawaiian''.

Involvement in video games

Apart from being an ardent gamer Spielberg has had a long history of involvement in video games. In 2005 the director signed with Electronic Arts to collaborate on three games including an action game and an award winning puzzle game for the Wii called ''Boom Blox'' (and its 2009 sequel: ''Boom Blox Bash Party''). Previously, he was involved in creating the scenario for the adventure game ''The Dig''. In 1996, Spielberg worked on and shot original footage for a movie-making simulation game called ''Steven Spielberg's Director's Chair''. He is the creator of the ''Medal of Honor'' series by Electronic Arts. He is credited in the special thanks section of the 1998 video game ''Trespasser''.

Upcoming and announced projects

In early 2009, Spielberg shot the first film in a planned trilogy of motion capture films based on ''The Adventures of Tintin'' written by Belgian artist Hergé, with Peter Jackson. ''The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn'', will not be released until December 23, 2011 due to the complexity of the computer animation involved. Jackson has been announced to direct the second film, which Spielberg will produce. Spielberg's next film ''War Horse'', was shot in England in the summer of 2010, and will be released just five days after ''The Adventures of Tintin'', on December 28, 2011. The film, based on the novel of the same name, is about the long friendship between a British boy and his horse Joey before and during World War I — a novel that was adapted into a hit play in London which is running on Broadway as of April 2011. It will be released and distributed by Disney, with whom DreamWorks has made a 30-picture deal. The novel was written by Michael Morpurgo and published in 1982. He will follow this with ''Lincoln'', starring Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln and Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln. Based on Doris Kearns Goodwin's bestseller ''Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln'', the film will follow Lincoln's leadership during the years of the American Civil War. Written by Tony Kushner, the film will be shot in the fall of 2011 in Richmond, Virginia and released in the fourth quarter of 2012 by Disney's Touchstone Pictures division. Spielberg also made a commitment to direct a film based on the novel ''Robopocalypse''.

In 2009, Spielberg reportedly tried to obtain the screen rights to make a film based on Microsoft's ''Halo'' series. In September 2008, Steven Spielberg bought film rights for John Wyndham's novel ''Chocky'' and is interested in directing it. He is also interested in making an adaptation of ''A Steady Rain'', ''Pirate Latitudes'', ''The 39 Clues'', and ''Under the Dome'', along with a remake of ''When Worlds Collide''. In May 2009, Steven Spielberg bought the rights to the life story of Martin Luther King, Jr.. Spielberg will be involved not only as producer but also as a director. However, the purchase was made from the King estate, led by son Dexter, while the two other surviving children, the Reverend Bernice and Martin III, immediately threatened to sue, not having given their approvals to the project.

In June 2006, Steven Spielberg announced he would direct a scientifically accurate film about "a group of explorers who travel through a worm hole and into another dimension", from a treatment by Kip Thorne and producer Lynda Obst. In January 2007, screenwriter Jonathan Nolan met with them to discuss adapting Obst and Thorne's treatment into a narrative screenplay. The screenwriter suggested the addition of a "time element" to the treatment's basic idea, which was welcomed by Obst and Thorne. In March of that year, Paramount hired Nolan as well as scientists from Caltech, forming a workshop who will begin adapting the treatment after completing the script for Warner Bros.' ''The Chicago Fire''. The following July, Kip Thorne said there was a push by people for him to portray himself in the film ''Interstellar''.

Spielberg is also producing the Fox TV series ''Terra Nova''. ''Terra Nova'' will begin in the year 2149 when all life on the planet Earth is threatened with extinction resulting in scientists opening a door that allows people to travel back 85 million years to prehistoric times. Spielberg will also help produce the upcoming TV series ''The River'' and ''Smash''.

Themes

Spielberg's films often deal with several recurring themes. Most of his films deal with ordinary characters searching for or coming in contact with extraordinary beings or finding themselves in extraordinary circumstances. In an AFI interview in August 2000 Spielberg commented on his interest in the possibility of extra terrestrial life and how it has influenced some of his films. Spielberg described himself as feeling like an alien during childhood, and his interest came from his father, a science fiction fan, and his opinion that aliens would not travel light years for conquest, but instead curiosity and sharing of knowledge.

A strong consistent theme in his family-friendly work is a childlike, even naïve, sense of wonder and faith, as attested by works such as ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'', ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'', ''Hook'', and ''A.I. Artificial Intelligence''. According to Warren Buckland, these themes are portrayed through the use of low height camera tracking shots, which have become one of Spielberg's directing trademarks. In the cases when his films include children (''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'', ''Empire of the Sun'', ''Jurassic Park'', etc.), this type of shot is more apparent, but it is also used in films like ''Munich'', ''Saving Private Ryan'', ''The Terminal'', ''Minority Report'', and ''Amistad''. If one views each of his films, one will see this shot utilized by the director, notably the water scenes in ''Jaws'' are filmed from the low-angle perspective of someone swimming. Another child oriented theme in Spielberg's films is that of loss of innocence and coming-of-age. In ''Empire of the Sun'', Jim, a well-groomed and spoiled English youth, loses his innocence as he suffers through World War II China. Similarly, in ''Catch Me If You Can'', Frank naively and foolishly believes that he can reclaim his shattered family if he accumulates enough money to support them.

The most persistent theme throughout his films is tension in parent-child relationships. Parents (often fathers) are reluctant, absent or ignorant. Peter Banning in ''Hook'' starts off in the beginning of the film as a reluctant married-to-his-work parent who through the course of his film regains the respect of his children. The notable absence of Elliott's father in ''E.T.'', is the most famous example of this theme. In ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'', it is revealed that Indy has always had a very strained relationship with his father, who is a professor of medieval literature, as his father always seemed more interested in his work, specifically in his studies of the Holy Grail, than in his own son, although his father does not seem to realize or understand the negative effect that his aloof nature had on Indy (he even believes he was a good father in the sense that he taught his son "self reliance," which is not how Indy saw it). Even Oskar Schindler, from ''Schindler's List'', is reluctant to have a child with his wife. ''Munich'' depicts Avner as a man away from his wife and newborn daughter. There are of course exceptions; Brody in ''Jaws'' is a committed family man, while John Anderton in ''Minority Report'' is a shattered man after the disappearance of his son. This theme is arguably the most autobiographical aspect of Spielberg's films, since Spielberg himself was affected by his parents' divorce as a child and by the absence of his father. Furthermore to this theme, protagonists in his films often come from families with divorced parents, most notably ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (protagonist Elliot's mother is divorced) and ''Catch Me If You Can'' (Frank Abagnale's mother and father split early on in the film). Little known also is Tim in ''Jurassic Park'' (early in the film, another secondary character mentions Tim and Lex's parents' divorce). The family often shown divided is often resolved in the ending as well. Following this theme of reluctant fathers and father figures, Tim looks to Dr. Alan Grant as a father figure. Initially, Dr. Grant is reluctant to return those paternal feelings to Tim. However, by the end of the film, he has changed, and the kids even fall asleep with their heads on his shoulders.

Most of his films are generally optimistic in nature. Critics frequently accuse his films of being overly sentimental, though Spielberg feels it is fine as long as it is disguised. The influence comes from directors Frank Capra and John Ford.

Contemporaries

In terms of casting and production itself, Spielberg has a known penchant for working with actors and production members from his previous films. For instance, he has cast Richard Dreyfuss in several films: ''Jaws'', ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'', and ''Always''. Aside from his role as Indiana Jones, Spielberg also cast Harrison Ford as a headteacher in ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (though the scene was ultimately cut). Although Spielberg directed him only once (in Raiders of the Lost Ark, for which he voiced many of the animals), veteran voice actor Frank Welker has lent his voice in a number of productions Spielberg has executively produced from ''Gremlins'' to its sequel ''Gremlins 2: The New Batch'', as well as ''The Land Before Time'' (and lending his voice to its sequels which Spielberg had no involvement in), ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'', and television shows such as ''Tiny Toons'', ''Animaniacs'', and SeaQuest DSV. Recently Spielberg has used Tom Hanks on several occasions and has cast him in ''Saving Private Ryan'', ''Catch Me If You Can'', and ''The Terminal''. Spielberg also has collaborated with Tom Cruise twice on ''Minority Report'' and ''War of the Worlds''. Spielberg has also cast Shia LaBeouf in five films: ''Transformers'', ''Eagle Eye'', ''Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'', ''Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen'', and ''Transformers: Dark of the Moon''. Spielberg prefers working with production members with whom he has developed an existing working relationship. An example of this is his production relationship with Kathleen Kennedy who has served as producer on all his major films from ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' to the recent ''Munich''. Other working relationships include Allen Daviau, a childhood friend and cinematographer who shot the early Spielberg film ''Amblin'' and most of his films up to ''Empire of the Sun''; Janusz Kamiński who has shot every Spielberg film since ''Schindler's List'' (see List of film director and cinematographer collaborations); and the film editor Michael Kahn who has edited every film directed by Spielberg from ''Close Encounters'' to ''Munich'' (except ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial''). Most of the DVDs of Spielberg's films have documentaries by Laurent Bouzereau.

A famous example of Spielberg working with the same professionals is his long time collaboration with John Williams and the use of his musical scores in all of his films since ''The Sugarland Express'' (except ''The Color Purple'' and ''Twilight Zone: The Movie''). One of Spielberg's trademarks is his use of music by John Williams to add to the visual impact of his scenes and to try and create a lasting picture and sound of the film in the memories of the film audience. These visual scenes often uses images of the sun (e.g. ''Empire of the Sun'', ''Saving Private Ryan'', the final scene of ''Jurassic Park'', and the end credits of ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'' (where they ride into the sunset), of which the last two feature a Williams score at that end scene. Spielberg is a contemporary of filmmakers George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, John Milius, and Brian De Palma, collectively known as the "Movie Brats". Aside from his principal role as a director, Spielberg has acted as a producer for a considerable number of films, including early hits for Joe Dante and Robert Zemeckis.

Personal life

Marriages and children

From 1985 to 1989 Spielberg was married to actress Amy Irving. In their 1989 divorce settlement, she received $100 million from Spielberg after a judge controversially vacated a prenuptial agreement written on a napkin. Their divorce was recorded as the third most costly celebrity divorce in history. Following the divorce, Spielberg and Irving shared custody of their son, Max Samuel.

Spielberg subsequently developed a relationship with actress Kate Capshaw, whom he met when he cast her in ''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom''. They married on October 12, 1991. Capshaw is a convert to Judaism. They currently move among their four homes in Pacific Palisades, California; New York City; Quelle Farm, Georgica Pond in East Hampton, NY; and Naples, Florida.

There are seven children in the Spielberg-Capshaw family:

Jessica Capshaw (born August 9, 1976) – daughter from Kate Capshaw's previous marriage to Robert Capshaw

Max Samuel Spielberg (born June 13, 1985) – son from Spielberg's previous marriage to actress Amy Irving

Theo Spielberg (born 1988) – son adopted by Capshaw before her marriage to Spielberg, who later also adopted him Sasha Rebecca Spielberg (born May 14, 1990, Los Angeles) Sawyer Avery Spielberg (born March 10, 1992, Los Angeles)

Mikaela George (born February 28, 1996) – adopted with Kate Capshaw

Destry Allyn Spielberg (born December 1, 1996)

Wealth

''Forbes'' magazine places Spielberg's personal net worth at $3.0 billion.

Recognition

In 2002, Spielberg was one of eight flagbearers who carried the Olympic Flag into Rice-Eccles Stadium at the Opening Ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. In 2006, ''Premiere'' listed him as the most powerful and influential figure in the motion picture industry. ''Time'' listed him as one of the 100 Most Important People of the Century. At the end of the 20th century, ''Life'' named him the most influential person of his generation.

Starbright

In 1991 Steven Spielberg co-founded Starbright with Randy Aduana—a foundation dedicated to improving sick children's lives through technology-based programs focusing on entertainment and education. In 2002 Starbright merged with the Starlight Foundation forming what is now today the Starlight Children's Foundation.

Politics

Spielberg usually supports U.S. Democratic Party candidates. He has donated over $800,000 for the Democratic party and its nominees. He has been a close friend of former President Bill Clinton and worked with the President for the USA Millennium celebrations. He directed an 18-minute film for the project, scored by John Williams and entitled ''The American Journey''. It was shown at America's Millennium Gala on December 31, 1999, in the National Mall at the Reflecting Pool at the base of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Spielberg resigned as a member of the national advisory board of the Boy Scouts of America in 2001 because of his disapproval of the organization's anti-homosexuality stance.

Spielberg joined Jeffrey Katzenberg and Haim Saban in endorsing the re-election of Hollywood friend Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Republican Governor of California, on August 7, 2006.

In 2007 the Arab League voted to boycott Spielberg's movies after he donated $1 million for relief efforts in Israel during the 2006 Lebanon War.

On February 20, 2007, Spielberg, Katzenberg, and David Geffen invited Democrats to a fundraiser for Barack Obama. However, on June 14, 2007, Spielberg endorsed Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) for President. While Geffen and Katzenberg supported Obama, Spielberg was always a supporter of Hillary Clinton. However Spielberg directed a video for Obama at the DNC in August 2008 and attended Obama's inauguration.

In February 2008, Spielberg pulled out of his role as advisor to the 2008 Summer Olympics in response to the Chinese government's inaction over the War in Darfur. Spielberg said in a statement that "''I find that my conscience will not allow me to continue business as usual''." It also said that "''Sudan's government bears the bulk of the responsibility for these on-going crimes, but the international community, and particularly China, should be doing more.''." The International Olympic Committee respected Spielberg's decision, but IOC president Jacques Rogge admitted in an interview that "''[Spielberg] certainly would have brought a lot to the opening ceremony in terms of creativity.''" Spielberg's statement drew criticism from Chinese officials and state-run media calling his criticism "unfair".

In September 2008, Spielberg and his wife offered their support to same-sex marriage, by issuing a statement following their donation of $100,000 to the "No on Proposition 8" campaign fund, a figure equal to the amount of money Brad Pitt donated to the same campaign less than a week prior.

Hobbies

Spielberg is an avid film buff, and, when not shooting a picture, he will indulge in "movie orgies" (watching many over a single weekend). He sees almost every major summer blockbuster in theaters if not preoccupied and enjoys most of them; "If I get pleasure from anything, I can't think of it as dumb or myself as shallow [...] I'll probably go late to that movie and go, 'What the dickens was everybody complaining about, that wasn't so bad!'".

Since playing Pong while filming ''Jaws'' in 1974, Spielberg has been an avid video gamer. He owns a Wii, a PlayStation 3, a PSP, and Xbox 360, and enjoys playing first-person shooters such as the ''Medal of Honor'' series and ''Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare''. He has also criticized the use of cut scenes in games, calling them intrusive, and feels making story flow naturally into the gameplay is a challenge for future game developers.

Stalking

In 2001, Spielberg was stalked by conspiracy theorist and former social worker Diana Napolis. She accused him, along with actress Jennifer Love Hewitt, of controlling her thoughts through "cybertronic" technology and being part of a satanic conspiracy against her. Napolis was committed for life in a mental institution before pleading guilty to stalking and released on probation with a condition that she have no contact with either Spielberg or Hewitt.

Spielberg was a target of the 2002 white supremacist terror plot.

Jonathan Norman was arrested after making two attempts to enter Spielberg's Pacific Palisades home in June and July 1997. Norman was jailed for 25 years in California. Spielberg, told the court: "Had Jonathan Norman actually confronted me, I genuinely, in my heart of hearts, believe that I would have been raped or maimed or killed."

Achievements

Spielberg has won three Academy Awards. He has been nominated for six Academy Awards for the category of Best Director, winning two of them (''Schindler's List'' and ''Saving Private Ryan''), and seven of the films he directed were up for the Best Picture Oscar (''Schindler's List'' won). In 1987 he was awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award for his work as a creative producer.

Drawing from his own experiences in Scouting, Spielberg helped the Boy Scouts of America develop a merit badge in cinematography. The badge was launched at the 1989 National Scout Jamboree, which Spielberg attended, and where he personally counseled many boys in their work on requirements.

That same year, 1989, saw the release of ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade''. The opening scene shows a teenage Indiana Jones in scout uniform bearing the rank of a Life Scout. Spielberg stated he made Indiana Jones a Boy Scout in honor of his experience in Scouting. For his career accomplishments and service to others, Spielberg was awarded the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award.

Steven Spielberg received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1995.

In 1998 he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit with Ribbon of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Award was presented to him by President Roman Herzog in recognition of his film ''Schindler's List'' and his Shoa-Foundation.

In 1999, Spielberg received an honorary degree from Brown University. Spielberg was also awarded the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service by Secretary of Defense William Cohen at the Pentagon on August 11, 1999; Cohen presented the award in recognition of Spielberg's film ''Saving Private Ryan''.

In 2001, he was honored as an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) by Queen Elizabeth II.

In 2004 he was admitted as knight of the Légion d'honneur by president Jacques Chirac. On July 15, 2006, Spielberg was also awarded the Gold Hugo Lifetime Achievement Award at the Summer Gala of the Chicago International Film Festival, and also was awarded a Kennedy Center honour on December 3. The tribute to Spielberg featured a short, filmed biography narrated by Tom Hanks and included thank-yous from World War II veterans for ''Saving Private Ryan'', as well as a performance of the finale to Leonard Bernstein's ''Candide'', conducted by John Williams (Spielberg's frequent composer).

In November 2007, he was chosen for a Lifetime Achievement Award to be presented at the sixth annual Visual Effects Society Awards in February 2009. He was set to be honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the January 2008 Golden Globes; however, the new, watered-down format of the ceremony resulting from conflicts in the 2007–08 writers strike, the HFPA postponed his honor to the 2009 ceremony. In 2008, Spielberg was awarded the Légion d'honneur.

In June 2008, Spielberg received Arizona State University's Hugh Downs Award for Communication Excellence.

Spielberg received an honorary degree at Boston University's 136th Annual Commencement on May 17, 2009. In October 2009 Steven Spielberg received the Philadelphia Liberty Medal; presenting him with the medal was former US president and Liberty Medal recipient Bill Clinton. Special guests included Whoopi Goldberg, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter.

Praise and criticism

Film

In 2005, Steven Spielberg was rated the greatest film director of all time by Empire Magazine.

After watching the unconventional, off-center camera techniques of ''Jaws'', Alfred Hitchcock praised "young Spielberg," saying "He's the first one of us who doesn't see the proscenium arch." Or, to paraphrase, he was the first mainstream director to think outside the visual dynamics of the theater, although that didn’t stop Hitchcock from removing Spielberg from the set of ''Family Plot'', his last film.

Some of Spielberg's most famous fans include film legends Robert Aldrich, Ingmar Bergman, Werner Herzog, Stanley Kubrick, David Lean, Sidney Lumet, Roman Polanski, Martin Scorsese, Francois Truffaut and Zhang Yimou.

Subsequently, Spielberg's movies have also influenced many directors that followed, including J.J Abrams, Paul Thomas Anderson, Neill Blomkamp, James Cameron, Guillermo del Toro, Roland Emmerich, David Fincher, Peter Jackson, Kal Ng, Robert Rodriguez, John Sayles, Ridley Scott, John Singleton, Kevin Smith, Steven Soderbergh and Quentin Tarantino.

British film critic Tom Shone has said of Spielberg, "If you have to point to any one director of the last twenty-five years in whose work the medium of film was most fully itself – where we found out what it does best when left to its own devices, it has to be that guy."

However, Spielberg is not without his critics—many of whom complain that his films are overly sentimental and tritely moralistic. In his book ''Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood'', Peter Biskind summarized the views of Spielberg's detractors, accusing the director of "infantilizing the audience, reconstituting the spectator as child, then overwhelming him and her with sound and spectacle, obliterating irony, aesthetic self-consciousness, and critical reflection."

Critics of mainstream film such as Ray Carney and American artist and actor Crispin Glover (who starred in the Spielberg-produced ''Back to the Future'' and also sued Spielberg for using Glover's likeness in ''Back to the Future Part II'') claim that Spielberg's films lack depth and do not take risks.

The late film critic, Pauline Kael, who had championed Spielberg's films in the 1970s, expressed disappointment in his later development, stating that "he’s become, I think, a very bad director.... And I’m a little ashamed for him, because I loved his early work.... [H]e turned to virtuous movies. And he’s become so uninteresting now.... I think that he had it in him to become more of a fluid, far-out director. But, instead, he’s become a melodramatist."

Imre Kertész, Hungarian Jewish author, Nazi concentration camp survivor, and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, criticized Spielberg's depiction of the Holocaust in ''Schindler's List'' as kitsch, saying "I regard as kitsch any representation of the Holocaust that is incapable of understanding or unwilling to understand the organic connection between our own deformed mode of life and the very possibility of the Holocaust."

French New Wave filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard stated that he holds Spielberg partly responsible for the lack of artistic merit in mainstream cinema and accused Spielberg of using his film ''Schindler's List'' to make a profit of tragedy while Schindler's wife lived in poverty in Argentina. In defense of Spielberg, critic Roger Ebert said "Has Godard or any other director living or dead done more than Spielberg, with his Holocaust Project, to honor and preserve the memories of the survivors?"

Stephen Rowley wrote an extensive essay about Spielberg and his career in Senses of Cinema. In it he discussed Spielberg's strengths as a film maker, saying "there is a welcome complexity of tone and approach in these later films that defies the lazy stereotypes often bandied about his films" and that "Spielberg continues to take risks, with his body of work continuing to grow more impressive and ambitious", concluding that he has only received "limited, begrudging recognition" from critics .

Other

Spielberg, as a then co-owner of DreamWorks, was involved in a heated debate in which the studio proposed building on the remaining wetlands in Southern California, though development was later dropped.

In August 2007, Ai Weiwei, artistic designer for the Beijing Olympic Stadium Bird's Nest accused those choreographing the Olympic opening ceremony, including Spielberg, of failing to live up to their responsibility as artists. Ai said, "It's disgusting. I don't like anyone who shamelessly abuses their profession, who makes no moral judgment."

Filmography

Awards and nominations

'''Academy Awards:

1978: Best Director (''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'', nominated)

1982: Best Director (''Raiders of the Lost Ark'', nominated)

1983: Best Director (''E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial'', nominated)

1983: Best Picture (''E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial'', nominated)

1986: Best Picture (''The Color Purple'', nominated)

1987: Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award (won)

1994: Best Director (''Schindler's List'', won)

1994: Best Picture (''Schindler's List'', won)

1999: Best Director (''Saving Private Ryan'', won)

1999: Best Picture (''Saving Private Ryan'', nominated)

2006: Best Director (''Munich'', nominated)

2006: Best Picture (''Munich'', nominated)

2007: Best Picture (''Letters from Iwo Jima'', nominated)

'''BAFTA Awards:

1976: Best Direction (''Jaws'', nominated)

1979: Best Direction (''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'', nominated)

1979: Best Screenplay (''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'', nominated)

1983: Best Direction (''E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial'', nominated)

1983: Best Film (''E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial'', nominated)

1986: Academy Fellowship (won)

1994: Best Film (''Schindler's List'', won)

1994: David Lean Award for Direction (''Schindler's List'', won)

1999: Best Film (''Saving Private Ryan'', nominated)

1999: David Lean Award for Direction (''Saving Private Ryan'', nominated)

'''Cannes Film Festival

1974: Best Screenplay (''The Sugarland Express'', won)

1974: Golden Palm (''The Sugarland Express'', nominated)

'''Critics Choice Awards:

1999: Best Director (''Saving Private Ryan'', won)

2003: Best Director (''Catch Me If You Can'' and ''Minority Report'', won)

2006: Best Director (''Munich'', nominated)

'''Directors Guild of America:

1976: Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures (''Jaws'', nominated)

1978: Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures (''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'', nominated)

1982: Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures (''Raiders of the Lost Ark'', nominated'')

1983: Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures (''E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial'', nominated)

1986: Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures (''The Color Purple'', won); this was the first time a director won this award without receiving an Oscar nomination for Best Director.

1988: Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures (''Empire of the Sun'', nominated)

1994: Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures (''Schindler's List'', won)

1998: Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures (''Amistad'', nominated)

1999: Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures (''Saving Private Ryan'', won); this win makes Spielberg the only individual to win this award three times.

2000: The D.W. Griffith Award for Lifetime Achievement

2006: Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures (''Munich'', nominated)

'''Golden Globes:

1976: Best Director (''Jaws'', nominated)

1978: Best Director (''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'', nominated)

1978: Best Screenplay (''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'', nominated)

1982: Best Director (''Raiders of the Lost Ark'', nominated)

1983: Best Picture – Drama (''E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial'', won)

1983: Best Director (''E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial'', nominated)

1986: Best Director (''The Color Purple'', nominated)

1994: Best Picture – Drama (''Schindler's List'', won)

1994: Best Director (''Schindler's List'', won)

1998: Best Director (''Amistad'', nominated)

1999: Best Picture – Drama (''Saving Private Ryan'', won)

1999: Best Director (''Saving Private Ryan'', won)

2002: Best Director (''AI: Artificial Intelligence'', nominated)

2006: Best Director (''Munich'', nominated)

2008: Cecil B. DeMille Award (won)

'''Hasty Pudding Theatricals:

1983: Man of the Year (won)

'''Hollywood Walk of Fame:

2003: Star on the Walk of Fame (won)

'''NBR Award:

1987: Best Director (''Empire of the Sun'', won)

2001: Billy Wilder Award (won)

'''Primetime Emmys:

1986: Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series (''Amazing Stories'' for episode "The Mission", nominated)

1991: Outstanding Animated Program – One Hour or Less (''Tiny Toon Adventures'' for episode "The Looney Beginning", nominated)

1995: Outstanding Animated Program – One Hour or Less (''Tiny Toon Adventures: Night Ghoulery'', nominated)

1996: Outstanding Animated Program – One Hour or Less (''A Pinky & the Brain Christmas Special'', won)

2002: Outstanding Non-Fiction Special – Informational (''We Stand Alone Together'', nominated)

2002: Outstanding Miniseries (''Band of Brothers'', won)

2003: Outstanding Miniseries (''Taken'', won)

2006: Outstanding Miniseries (''Into the West'', nominated)

'''Producers Guild of America:

1994: Motion Picture Producer of the Year (''Schindler's List'', won)

1998: Motion Picture Producer of the Year (''Amistad'', nominated)

1998: Vision Award (''Amistad'', won)

1999: Motion Picture Producer of the Year (''Saving Private Ryan'', won)

1999: Milestone Award (won)

2000: PGA Hall of Fame – Motion Pictures (''E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial'', won)

2002: Television Producer of the Year – Longform (''Band of Brothers'', won)

2006: Television Producer of the Year – Longform (''Into the West'', nominated)

'''Saturn Awards:

1978: Best Director (''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'', won); tied with George Lucas for ''Star Wars''

1978: Best Writing (''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'', won); tied with George Lucas for ''Star Wars''

1982: Best Director (''Raiders of the Lost Ark'', won)

1983: Best Science Fiction Film (''E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial'', won)

1983: Best Director (''E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial'', nominated)

1985: Best Director (''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'', nominated)

1994: Best Science Fiction Film (''Jurassic Park'', won)

1994: Best Director (''Jurassic Park'', won)

1994: President's Award (won)

1998: Best Director (''The Lost World: Jurassic Park'', nominated)

1999: Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film (''Saving Private Ryan'', won)

2002: Best Science Fiction Film (''AI: Artificial Intelligence'', won)

2002: Best Director (''AI: Artificial Intelligence'', nominated)

2002: Best writing (''AI: Artificial Intelligence'', won)

2003: Best Science Fiction Film (''Minority Report'', won)

2003: Best Director (''Minority Report'', won)

2006: Best Director (''War of the Worlds'', nominated)

2009: Best Director (''Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'', nominated)

'''Venice Film Festival:

1993: Career Golden Lion (won)

2001: Future Film Festival Digital Award (''AI: Artificial Intelligence'', won)

'''Writers Guild of America:

1975: Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screen (''The Sugarland Express'', nominated)

1978: Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen (''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'', nominated)

Other

2009 Liberty Medal

2006 Kennedy Center Honors

2001 Knight Commander, Order of the British Empire (Honorary)

2003 Knight Grand Cross Order of Merit of the Italian Republic

1998 Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

References

Further reading

External links

Steven Spielberg Bibliography (via UC Berkeley)

Official website of DreamWorks

Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation (founded by Spielberg)

''Time'' 100: Steven Spielberg

Spielberg at 60 – Empire

Fansite and forum "Playmountain," the successor of "Spielbergfilms"

Spielberg's financial success in a single image

The Question Spielberg: A Symposium — Part One: Position Papers and Part Two: Films and Moments, ''Senses of Cinema'' (2003)

Spielberg Symposium, ''Reverse Shot'' (2003)

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Coordinates	21°28′14″N158°12′51″N
name	Catherine
title	Duchess of Cambridge (more)
imgw	200px
full name	Catherine Elizabeth
house	House of Windsor
spouse	Prince William, Duke of Cambridge
father	Michael Francis Middleton
mother	Carole Elizabeth (née Goldsmith)
birth date	January 09, 1982
birth place	Reading, Berkshire, England
religion	Anglican (Church of England) }}

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (Catherine Elizabeth; ''née'' Middleton; born 9 January 1982), popularly known as "Kate", is the wife of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge. William is second in line to the thrones of the sixteen Commonwealth realms, and when he becomes king, she will become queen consort. Catherine grew up in Chapel Row at Bucklebury, a village near Newbury, Berkshire, England. She studied in Scotland at the University of St Andrews, where she met William in 2001. They started a romantic relationship that continued until a break-up lasting for several months in 2007. However, they continued to be friends and rekindled their relationship later that year.

Prior to the wedding, Catherine attended many high-profile royal events. Once their relationship became public, Catherine received widespread media attention and there was much speculation that she and William would eventually marry. Their engagement was announced on 16 November 2010, and they married on 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey.

Biography

Early life and family

Catherine was born at Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading on 9 January 1982 and christened at St Andrew's Bradfield, Berkshire on 20 June 1982. She is the eldest of three children born to Carole Elizabeth Middleton (née Goldsmith), a former flight attendant and now part-owner of Party Pieces, a private company with an estimated worth of £30 million, and Michael Francis Middleton, who also worked as a flight attendant prior to becoming a flight dispatcher for British Airways, currently also an owner of Party Pieces. Her parents married on 21 June 1980, at the Parish Church of Dorney, Buckinghamshire, and in 1987, founded Party Pieces, a mail order company that sells party supplies and decorations. Her siblings are Philippa "Pippa" Charlotte and James Middleton. The family has complained about press harassment of Pippa and their mother since Catherine's engagement.

Catherine's paternal family came from Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, and her great-grandmother Olivia was a member of the Lupton family, who were active for generations in Leeds in commercial and municipal work. Her ancestors include The Rev. Thomas Davis, a Church of England hymn-writer. Carole Middleton's maternal family, the Harrisons, were working class labourers and miners from Sunderland and County Durham.

Catherine's parents were based in Amman, Jordan, working for British Airways from May 1984, to September 1986, where Catherine went to an English language nursery school, before returning to their home in Berkshire. After her return from Amman, Catherine was educated at St Andrew's School near the village of Pangbourne in Berkshire, then briefly at Downe House. She continued her studies at Marlborough College, a co-educational independent boarding school in Wiltshire, followed by the University of St Andrews in Fife, Scotland where she met William. She graduated with an MA (2:1 Hons) in the History of Art.

Career

In November 2006, Catherine accepted a position as an accessory buyer with the clothing chain Jigsaw. She also worked part-time until January 2011 as a catalogue photographer, webpage designer and marketing officer for her parents' firm "Party Pieces". In 2008, it was reported that she had quit her job at Jigsaw to become a professional photographer, intending to take private classes with photographer Mario Testino, who had taken several well-known photographs of Diana, Princess of Wales and her sons. Testino later denied that Catherine was going to be working for him.

Public image and style

Catherine is admired for her fashion sense and has been placed on numerous "best dressed" lists. She was selected by ''The Daily Telegraph'' as the "Most Promising Newcomer" in its 2006 list of style winners and losers. ''Tatler'' placed her at number 8 on its yearly listing of the top ten style icons in 2007. She was featured in ''People'' magazine's 2007 and 2010 best-dressed lists. Catherine was named as one of Richard Blackwell's ten "Fabulous Fashion Independents" of 2007. In June 2008, Style.com selected Catherine as its monthly beauty icon. In July 2008, Catherine was included in ''Vanity Fair''s international best-dressed list. In February 2011, Catherine was named the Top Fashion Buzzword of the 2011 season by the Global Language Monitor.

Relationship with Prince William

Catherine's status as the undeclared girlfriend of William brought her widespread media coverage in Britain and abroad and she was often photographed on her daily outings. On 17 October 2005, she complained through her lawyer about harassment from the media, stating that she had done nothing significant to warrant such publicity. In February 2006, it was announced that Catherine would receive her own 24-hour security detail supplied by the Royalty Protection branch (SO14). This fuelled further speculation that she and William would soon be engaged, since she would not otherwise be entitled to this service.

No engagement was forthcoming and Catherine was not granted an allowance to fund this security. Media attention increased around the time of Catherine's 25th birthday in January 2007, prompting warnings from both Charles and William and from Catherine's lawyers, who threatened legal action. Two newspaper groups, News International, which publishes ''The Times'' and ''The Sun'', and the Guardian Media Group, publishers of ''The Guardian'', decided to refrain from publishing paparazzi photographs of her. Catherine attended at least one event as an official royal guest, William's Passing Out Parade at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst on 15 December 2006. In December 2007, it was reported that Catherine had moved in with Prince William at Clarence House, the residence of the Prince of Wales in London. Clarence House later denied this.

On 17 May 2008, Catherine attended the wedding of William's cousin Peter Phillips to Autumn Kelly, which the prince did not attend. On 19 July 2008, she was a guest at the wedding of Lady Rose Windsor and George Gilman. William was away on military operations in the Caribbean, serving aboard the HMS ''Iron Duke''. In 2010, Catherine pursued an invasion of privacy claim against two agencies and photographer Niraj Tanna, who took pictures of her over Christmas 2009. Catherine obtained a public apology, £5,000 in damages, and legal costs.

Breakup and reconciliation

On 14 April 2007, ''The Sun'' newspaper broke a "world exclusive" suggesting that Prince William and Catherine had split up. Other media outlets, such as the BBC, confirmed the story as the day progressed. The couple decided to break up during a holiday in the Swiss resort of Zermatt. Clarence House made only one comment about the relationship's end, according to ''The Times'', stating, "We don't comment on Prince William's private life". Newspapers speculated about the reasons for the split, although these reports relied on anonymous sources.

The original report in ''The Sun'' quoted a "close friend of the couple" as saying that Catherine felt William had not been paying her enough attention. The paper highlighted reports that William had been spending time with other young women and said the Prince, aged 24 at the time of the split, felt he was too young to marry. A report in the ''Daily Mail'' blamed a desire by royal courtiers not to "hurry along" a marriage announcement, and William's desire to enjoy his bachelor status within his Army career. The ''Mail'' also suggested that a friend of William encouraged the Prince to take a "careless approach" to relationships. The same article suggested that Catherine had "expected too much" in wanting William to demonstrate his commitment to her.

In June 2007, Catherine and William insisted they were "just good friends" following reports of a reconciliation. Catherine and her family attended the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium, where she and William sat two rows apart. The couple were subsequently seen together in public on a number of occasions and several news sources, including the BBC and the ''Daily Mail'', stated that they had "rekindled their relationship". Catherine also joined William and Charles on a deerstalking expedition at Balmoral and attended the wedding of William's cousin, Peter Phillips, even though William, due to a prior commitment, did not. In April 2008, Catherine accompanied William when he was awarded his RAF wings at the Royal Air Force College Cranwell. On 16 June 2008, Catherine attended William's investiture into the Order of the Garter, along with the Royal Family.

Engagement and wedding

Prince William and Catherine Middleton became engaged in October 2010 in Kenya, East Africa, during a 10-day trip to the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy to celebrate William passing his RAF helicopter search and rescue course. Clarence House announced the engagement on 16 November 2010. The couple married in Westminster Abbey on 29 April 2011, (St. Catherine's Day) with the day declared a bank holiday in the United Kingdom. Estimates of the global audience for the wedding range from 300 million to two billion people, whilst 24.5 million watched the event live in the United Kingdom.

Royal duties

Public appearances

Catherine was formally introduced to public life on 24 February 2011, two months before the wedding, when she and William attended a lifeboat naming ceremony in Trearddur, Anglesey in North Wales. A day later they appeared in St Andrews and launched the university's 600th anniversary celebrations. On 16 February 2011, Clarence House announced that the Duke and Duchess's first royal tour of Canada would take place in July 2011.

In May 2011, shortly after the wedding, and while Prince Charles was in official visit to the United States, Clarence House announced that the Duke and Duchess would visit California after their Canadian tour. It was the Duchess of Cambridge's first visit to the United States.

She recently handed out medals to the members of the Irish Guards. Catherine visited the Canadian Museum of Civilization to attend a citizenship ceremony, on 1 July 2011 in Gatineau, Canada. The newly married Royal Couple were on the second day of their first joint overseas tour. They were joined by thousands of Canadians taking part in the Canada Day celebrations, which mark Canada’s 144th Birthday.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

name	The Duchess of Cambridge
dipstyle	Her Royal Highness
offstyle	Your Royal Highness
altstyle	Ma'am }}

9 January 1982 29 April 2011: ''Miss'' Catherine Elizabeth Middleton 29 April 2011 present: ''Her Royal Highness'' The Duchess of Cambridge

Catherine's full title and style is ''Her Royal Highness Princess William Arthur Philip Louis, Duchess of Cambridge, Countess of Strathearn, Baroness Carrickfergus''.

Unlike the majority of royal brides, and in contrast to most previous consorts-in-waiting for over 350 years, Catherine does not come from a royal or aristocratic background. On the morning of their wedding day on 29 April 2011, at 8:00 am, officials at Buckingham Palace announced that in accordance with royal tradition and on recognition of the day by the Queen, Prince William was created Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn and Baron Carrickfergus.

Honours

Honorary military appointments

; Canada 5 July 2011 present: Canadian Ranger

Honorific eponyms

;Awards : Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Award, University of Waterloo, Waterloo

Coat of arms

Notes	The Duchess bears the arms of her husband, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, impaled with her own arms. Catherine's coat of arms is based on those of her father Michael Middleton, which was granted to him by the College of Arms on the 19 April 2011. Thomas Woodcock, Garter King of Arms, the senior officer of the College of Arms, helped the family with the design.
Adopted	19 April 2011
Coronet	Coronet of a child of the Heir Apparent
Escutcheon	Quarterly 1st and 4th Gules three lions passant guardant in pale Or armed and langed Azure (England), 2nd Or a lion rampant Gules armed and langued Azure within a double tressure flory counterflory of the second (Scotland), 3rd Azure a harp Or stringed Argent (Ireland), the whole differenced with a label of three points Argent with the central point charged with an escallop Gules (Prince William); Impaled with a shield per pale Azure and Gules, a chevron Or, cotised Argent, between three acorns slipped and leaved Or (Middleton).
Symbolism	right|100px The dividing line (between two colours) down the centre is a canting of the name 'Middle-ton'. The acorns (from the oak tree) are a traditional symbol of England and a feature of west Berkshire, where the family have lived for 30 years. The three acorns also denote the family's three children. The gold chevron in the centre of the arms is an allusion to Carole Middleton's maiden name of Goldsmith. The two white chevronels (narrow chevrons above and below the gold chevron) symbolise peaks and mountains, and the family's love of the Lake District and skiing.
Previous versions	Her previous coat of arms depicted a lozenge shaped shield of arms which hangs from a blue ribbon, this symbolised her unmarried state. This version of the arms is now used only by her sister Pippa as it denotes an unmarried daughter of their father Michael Middleton. }}

Ancestry

In a study of the ancestry of Catherine, William Addams Reitwiesner uncovered that she shares ancestors with her husband Prince William; the closest relationship is via William's mother and Catherine's father through a common descent from Sir Thomas Fairfax and his wife Agnes (or Anne) Gascoigne, daughter of Sir William Gascoigne and his wife, née Lady Margaret Percy. This makes the couple fifteenth cousins. Sir Thomas Fairfax and Agnes Gascoigne are through Catherine's great-grandmother Olive Lupton, daughter of a Leeds cloth merchant Francis Lupton and his wife Harriet (née Davis) – Fairfax being an ancestor of Lupton. In turn Lady Margaret Percy is descended from Edward III.

In his original publication of Middleton's ancestry, Reitwiesner uncovered circumstantial evidence, that has since been disproved, suggesting that Catherine and William were twelfth cousins once removed with common descent from Sir Thomas Leighton and Elizabeth Knollys, the latter a cousin once removed of Elizabeth I.

{{ahnentafel-compact5 |style=font-size: 90%; line-height: 110%; |border=1 |boxstyle=padding-top: 0; padding-bottom: 0; |boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc; |boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9; |boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc; |boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc; |boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe; |1= 1. Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge |2= 2. Michael Middleton |3= 3. Carole Goldsmith |4= 4. Peter Middleton |5= 5. Valerie Glassborow |6= 6. Ronald Goldsmith |7= 7. Dorothy Harrison |8= 8. Noel Middleton |9= 9. Olive Lupton |10= 10. Frederick George Glassborow |11= 11. Constance Robison |12= 12. Stephen Charles Goldsmith |13= 13. Edith Eliza Chandler |14= 14. Thomas Harrison |15= 15. Elizabeth Temple |16= 16. John Middleton |17= 17. Mary Asquith |18= 18. Francis Lupton |19= 19. Harriet Albina Davis |20= 20. Frederick Glassborow |21= 21. Emily Jane Elliott |22= 22. Gavin Fullarton Robison |23= 23. Sarah Ann Gee |24= 24. John Goldsmith |25= 25. Jane Dorsett |26= 26. Theophilus Benjamin Chandler |27= 27. Amelia White |28= 28. John Harrison |29= 29. Jane Hill |30= 30. Thomas Temple |31= 31. Elizabeth Myers }}

Popular culture

Following international attention regarding the wedding, Lifetime aired a TV movie entitled ''William & Kate'' on 18 April 2011, in the US. The film premiered in the UK on 24 April 2011. Catherine was played by Camilla Luddington and William by Nico Evers-Swindell. TV programmes were also shown in the UK prior to the wedding which provided deeper insights into the couple's relationship and backgrounds, including ''When Kate Met William'' and Channel 4's ''Meet the Middletons''.

A second TV Movie is also being produced that covers much the same ground as "William & Kate". That movie titled ''William & Catherine: A Royal Romance'' stars Alice St. Clair as Kate Middleton and Dan Amboyer as Prince William. Of note in this second television movie is the appearance of Jane Alexander as Queen Elizabeth and ''Alias'' alum Victor Garber as Prince Charles. According to The Hollywood Reporter the movie is scheduled to air August 27, 2011 in the United States on the Hallmark Channel. The movie was filmed in Bucharest.

Footnotes

References

Bibliography

}}

External links

The Duchess of Cambridge The British Monarchy official website

Engaged! Prince William and Kate, LIFE, 25 April 2011

"Popular girl who caught royal eye", ''BBC News'', 31 March 2005

"Royal wedding: Family tree", ''BBC News'', 13 April 2011

Cracroft's Peerage

in England and Wales and in Northern Ireland

Category:1982 births Category:Living people Category:Alumni of the University of St Andrews Category:British baronesses Category:British countesses Category:British duchesses by marriage Category:British princesses by marriage Category:English Anglicans Category:English socialites Category:House of Windsor Category:Mountbatten-Windsor family Category:Old Marlburians Category:Old St Andrews Category:People from Bucklebury Category:Prince William, Duke of Cambridge

af:Catherine, Hertogin van Cambridge ar:كاثرين دوقة كامبريدج an:Catarina de Cambridge az:Ketrin, Kembric hersoginyası be:Кэтрын, герцагіня Кембрыджская bcl:Kate Middleton bs:Catherine Middleton br:Catherine, dugez Cambridge bg:Кейт Мидълтън ca:Caterina, Duquessa de Cambridge cs:Catherine, vévodkyně z Cambridge cbk-zam:Kate Middleton cy:Catherine, Duges Caergrawnt da:Catherine, hertuginde af Cambridge de:Catherine Mountbatten-Windsor, Duchess of Cambridge et:Catherine, Cambridge'i hertsoginna el:Αικατερίνη, Δούκισσα του Κέμπριτζ es:Catalina de Cambridge eo:Kate Middleton eu:Katalina Cambridgekoa fa:کاترین میدلتون fr:Catherine Middleton fy:Catherine, Hartoginne fan Cambridge ga:Kate Middleton gl:Catalina de Cambridge ko:케임브리지 공작 부인 캐서린 hy:Քեյթ Միդլթոն hi:कैथरीन एलिज़ाबेथ मिडिलटन hr:Catherine, vojvotkinja od Cambridgea ilo:Kate Middleton id:Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge ie:Kate Middleton is:Katrín, hertogaynja af Cambridge it:Catherine Middleton he:קתרין, דוכסית קיימברידג' jv:Catherine Elizabeth Middleton kn:ಕ್ಯಾಥರಿನ್ ಮಿಡ್ಲ್‌ಟನ್ lv:Katrīna, Kembridžas hercogiene lt:Catherine, Kembridžo kunigaikštienė hu:Katalin cambridge-i hercegné mk:Кетрин (војвотка од Кембриџ) mt:Catherine Middleton mr:केंब्रिजची डचेस कॅथरीन ms:Catherine, Duchess Cambridge nl:Catherine Middleton ne:क्याथरीन, क्यामब्रिज की रानी ja:キャサリン (ケンブリッジ公爵夫人) no:Catherine, hertuginne av Cambridge nn:Catherine, hertuginne av Cambridge oc:Kate Middleton uz:Catherine Middleton pag:Kate Middleton pnb:کیتھرین ماؤنٹبیٹن ونڈسر pl:Katarzyna, księżna Cambridge pt:Catherine, Duquesa de Cambridge ro:Catherine, Ducesă de Cambridge ru:Кэтрин, герцогиня Кембриджская scn:Catirina Middleton simple:Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge si:කේට්‌ මිඩ්ල්ටන් sr:Кетрин, војвоткиња од Кембриџа fi:Catherine, Cambridgen herttuatar sv:Catherine, hertiginna av Cambridge tl:Catherine, Dukesa ng Cambridge ta:கேட் மிடில்டன் th:แคเธอริน ดัชเชสแห่งเคมบริดจ์ tr:Cambridge Düşesi, Catherine uk:Кетрін, герцогиня Кембриджська vi:Catherine, Công nương Cambridge war:Kate Middleton zh:凱薩琳 (劍橋公爵夫人)

Coordinates	21°28′14″N158°12′51″N
name	Prince Charles
title	Prince of Wales; Duke of Cornwall; Duke of Rothesay (more)
imgw	220
spouses	Diana, Princess of Wales(m. 1981, div. 1996)Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall(m. 2005)
issue	Prince William, Duke of CambridgePrince Harry of Wales
full name	Charles Philip Arthur George |groupfn |namesur}}

| house = House of Windsor | father = Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh | mother = Elizabeth II | birth_date = November 14, 1948 | birth_place = Buckingham Palace, London, United Kingdom | date of christening = 15 December 1948 | place of christening = Buckingham Palace, London | occupation = | religion = Church of England }}

Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. Since 1958 his major title has been ''His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales''. In Scotland he is additionally known as ''The Duke of Rothesay.'' He is the longest-serving heir apparent in British history. Until 22 April 2011 Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) had been the longest serving heir apparent, for a period of 59 years 74 days. However, Prince Edward became heir apparent on his birth, 4 years into his mother's (Queen Victoria) reign, whereas Prince Charles was three years old at his mother's ascension and thus has been heir apparent for all of Queen Elizabeth II's reign.

Charles was educated at Cheam and Gordonstoun Schools, which his father, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, had attended as a child, as well as the Timbertop campus of Geelong Grammar School, Victoria, Australia, situated near Mansfield in the rugged Victorian Alps. After earning a bachelor of arts degree from Trinity College, Cambridge, Charles served a tour of duty with the Royal Navy in 1971–76. He married Lady Diana Spencer before an enormous worldwide television audience in 1981. They had two sons, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge in 1982 and Prince Harry of Wales in 1984. The couple separated in 1992 following tabloid allegations concerning their relationship. They divorced in 1996 after Diana publicly accused Charles of having an affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, and Charles admitted adultery on television. Diana died in a car crash in Paris on 31 August 1997. In 2005, after a lengthy continued association, the Prince married Camilla, who uses the title Duchess of Cornwall.

The prince is well-known for his charity work and sponsors The Prince's Trust, The Prince's Regeneration Trust, and the Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment, among other charities. He has been outspoken concerning architecture and the conservation of old buildings and has produced a book on the subject called ''A Vision of Britain'' (1989). He has also promoted herbal and other alternative medical treatment.

Early life

Charles was born at Buckingham Palace on 14 November 1948 at 9.14 pm (GMT), the first child of then Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and first grandchild of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. Baptised in the palace's Music Room on 15 December 1948, using water from the River Jordan, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher, the Prince's godparents were: the King (his maternal grandfather); the King of Norway (his cousin, for whom the Earl of Athlone stood proxy); Queen Mary (his maternal great-grandmother); the Princess Margaret (his maternal aunt); Prince George of Greece (his paternal granduncle, for whom the Duke of Edinburgh stood proxy); the Dowager Marchioness of Milford Haven (his paternal great-grandmother); the Lady Brabourne (his cousin); and the Hon David Bowes-Lyon (his maternal great-uncle). By letters patent of Charles' great-grandfather, King George V, the titles of a British prince or princess, and the style ''Royal Highness'', were only to be conferred on male-line children and grandchildren of the sovereign, as well as the children of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales. However, on 22 October 1948, George VI issued new letters patent granting these honours to any children of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip; otherwise, Charles would have merely taken his father's title, and been titled by courtesy as Earl of Merioneth. In this way the children of the heiress presumptive had a royal and princely status.

When Charles was aged three his mother's accession as Queen Elizabeth II, immediately made him the heir apparent to the then seven countries over which she now reigned. He was ''ipso facto'' elevated to the rank of Duke of Cornwall (by a charter of King Edward III that gave said title to the sovereign's eldest son), and, in the Scottish peerage, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles, and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland. Though he moved to first in line to the throne in the United Kingdom order of precedence he is third, after his parents, and is typically fourth or fifth in other realms' precedence orders, following his mother, the relevant vice-regal representative(s), and his father. Charles attended his mother's coronation at Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953, seated alongside his grandmother and aunt. As is customary for royal offspring, a governess, Catherine Peebles, was appointed and undertook his education between the ages of 5 and 8. Buckingham Palace announced in 1955 that Charles would attend school rather than have a private tutor, making him the first heir apparent ever to be educated in that manner.

Youth

Education

Charles first attended Hill House School in West London, receiving non-preferential treatment from the school's founder and then head, Stuart Townend, who advised the Queen to have Charles train in football, as the boys at Hill House were never deferential to anyone on the football field. The Prince then attended his father's former school, the Cheam Preparatory School in Berkshire, England; and was finally moved to Gordonstoun, in the north-east of Scotland. Reportedly the Prince despised his time at the latter school – "Colditz in kilts", as Charles put it – though he did spend two of his terms at the Timbertop campus of Geelong Grammar School in Geelong, Australia, during which time he visited Papua New Guinea on a history trip with his tutor, Michael Collins Persse. Upon his return to Gordonstoun, Charles emulated his father in becoming Head Boy, and left in 1967 with two A Levels in History and French.

Tradition was broken again when Charles proceeded straight from secondary school into university, as opposed to joining the Armed Forces. On the recommendation of Robin Woods, Dean of Windsor, and despite only gaining grades of B and C in his A Levels, the Prince was admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he read anthropology, archaeology, and history, tutored by Canadian-born Professor John Coles. He graduated with a 2:2 Bachelor of Arts on 23 June 1970, the third Royal Family member to earn a university degree. On 2 August 1975 he was subsequently awarded a Master of Arts Degree from Cambridge, per the university's tradition. During his tertiary, Charles also attended the Old College (part of the University of Wales, Aberystwyth), studying the Welsh language and Welsh history. He is the first Prince of Wales born outside of Wales ever to attempt to learn the language of the principality.

Created Prince of Wales

Charles was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester on 26 July 1958, though his investiture as such was not conducted until 1 July 1969, wherein he was crowned by his mother in a televised ceremony held at Caernarfon Castle, and gave his replies and speech in both Welsh and English. The following year he took his seat in the House of Lords, and later in the decade became the first member of the Royal Family since King George I to attend a British Cabinet meeting, having been invited by Prime Minister James Callaghan so that the Prince might see the workings of the British government and Cabinet at first hand. Charles also began to take on more public duties, founding his The Prince's Trust in 1976, and travelling to the United States in 1981.

Around the same time the Prince expressed an interest in serving as Governor-General of Australia; Commander Michael Parker explained: "The idea behind the appointment was for him to put a foot on the ladder of monarchy, or being the future King and start learning the trade." However, because of a combination of nationalist feeling in Australia and the dismissal of the government by the Governor-General in 1975, nothing came of the proposal. Charles accepted the decision of the Australian ministers, if not without some regret; he reportedly stated: "What are you supposed to think when you are prepared to do something to help and you are told you are not wanted?" Conversely, Tom Gallagher wrote that Charles had been offered the Romanian throne by monarchists in that country; an offer that was reportedly turned down.

The Prince is at present the oldest man to hold the title of Prince of Wales since it became the title granted to the heir apparent. He is also the oldest and longest-serving heir apparent in Commonwealth realms' history and the third longest serving Prince of Wales in British history behind Edward VII and George IV, whom he will pass on 10 October 2017 if he is still Prince of Wales on that date. If he ascends to the throne after 18 September 2013, Charles would be the oldest monarch of the United Kingdom to do so; only William IV was older when he became monarch than Charles is now.

Military training and career

Following in the tradition of Princes of Wales before him, Charles spent time in the navy and air force. After Royal Air Force training that he requested and received during his second year at Cambridge, on 8 March 1971 the Prince flew himself to the Royal Air Force College Cranwell to train as a jet pilot. After the passing out parade in September of that year, he then embarked on a naval career, enrolling in a six–week course at the Royal Naval College Dartmouth and then serving on the guided missile destroyer (1971–1972) and the frigates (1972–1973) and (1974). Charles also qualified as a helicopter pilot at RNAS Yeovilton in 1974, just prior to joining 845 Naval Air Squadron, operating from , and on 9 February 1976 the Prince took command of the coastal minehunter for his last nine months in the navy. Prince Charles learned to fly on a Chipmunk basic pilot trainer, a BAC Jet Provost jet trainer, and a Beagle Basset multi-engined trainer, he then regularly flew the Hawker Siddeley Andover, Westland Wessex and BAe 146 aircraft of The Queen's Flight.

Early romances

Prince Charles' love life was always the subject of speculation and press fodder. In his youth, he was linked to a number of women, including Georgiana Russell, daughter of the British Ambassador to Spain; Lady Jane Wellesley; Davina Sheffield; Fiona Watson, a model; Susan George; Lady Sarah Spencer; Princess Marie-Astrid of Luxembourg; Dale, Baroness Tryon; Janet Jenkins; and Jane Ward. Not only is Charles the heir apparent to the thrones of the Commonwealth realms, a marriage was also expected to raise future monarchs. Consequently his choice of consort was going to create immense popular interest. In particular the reputation of the bride was going to be a major consideration, in addition to his mother's approval under the Royal Marriages Act 1772. Under this Act marriage to a Roman Catholic would automatically debar him and the marriage's Catholic issue from succession.

Charles was given written advice on dating and the selection of a future consort from his father's "Uncle Dickie", Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma: "In a case like yours, the man should sow his wild oats and have as many affairs as he can before settling down, but for a wife he should choose a suitable, attractive, and sweet-charactered girl before she has met anyone else she might fall for... It is disturbing for women to have experiences if they have to remain on a pedestal after marriage." Mountbatten had a unique qualification for offering advice to this particular heir to the throne: he had invited George VI, Queen Elizabeth, and their daughters to visit Dartmouth Royal Naval College on 22 July 1939, having also detailed Cadet Prince Philip of Greece to keep the young princesses company, arranging the first documented meeting of Charles' future parents. In early 1974, Mountbatten began corresponding with Elizabeth and Philip's eldest son about a potential marriage to Mountbatten's granddaughter, Hon. Amanda Knatchbull (b. 26 June 1957), and recommended that the 25-year-old prince get done with his bachelor's experimentation. Charles dutifully wrote to Amanda's mother, Lady Brabourne (who was also his godmother), about his interest in her daughter, to which she replied approvingly, though suggesting that a courtship was premature.

This did not daunt Mountbatten, who, four years later, obtained an invitation for himself and Amanda to accompany Charles on his 1980 tour of India. Both fathers, however, objected; Philip complaining that the Prince of Wales would be eclipsed by his famous uncle (who had served as the last British Viceroy and first Governor-General of India), while Lord Brabourne warned that a joint visit would rivet media attention on the cousins before they could decide on becoming a couple, thereby potentially dashing the very prospect for which Mountbatten hoped. However, before Charles was to depart alone for India, Mountbatten was killed in an IRA murder during August 1979. When Charles returned, he proposed to Amanda. However, in addition to her grandfather, she had lost her paternal grandmother and youngest brother Nicholas in the attack and now recoiled from the prospect of becoming a core member of the Royal Family. In June 1980 Charles officially turned down Chevening House, placed at his disposal since 1974, as his future residence. Chevening, a stately home in Kent, was bequeathed, along with an endowment, to the Crown by the last Earl Stanhope, Amanda's childless great-uncle, in the hope that Charles would eventually occupy it.

First marriage

thumb|TRH The Prince and [[Diana, Princess of Wales|The Princess of Wales with Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan in November 1985]] Although Charles first met Lady Diana Frances Spencer in 1977—while visiting Diana's home, Althorp, as the companion of her elder sister, Sarah—he did not consider her romantically until the summer of 1980. While sitting together on a bale of hay at a friend's barbecue in July he mentioned Mountbatten's death, to which Diana replied that Charles had looked forlorn and in need of care during his uncle's funeral. Soon, according to Charles' chosen biographer, Jonathan Dimbleby, "without any apparent surge in feeling, he began to think seriously of her as a potential bride." She accompanied the Prince on visits to Balmoral and Sandringham, eliciting enthusiastic responses from most of the Royal Family.

Although the Queen offered Charles no direct counsel, his cousin Norton Knatchbull (Amanda's eldest brother) and his wife, Penny, did. But Charles was angered by their objections that he did not seem in love with Diana and that she seemed too awestruck by his position. Meanwhile, the couple continued dating, amidst constant press speculation and paparazzi coverage. When Prince Philip told him that the intrusive media attention would injure her reputation if he did not come to a decision about marrying her soon, and realising that Diana met the Mountbatten criteria (and, apparently, the public's) for a proper royal bride, Charles construed his father's advice as a warning to proceed without further delay.

Engagement and wedding to Diana

Prince Charles proposed to Lady Diana Spencer in February 1981, she accepted, and when he asked her father for her hand, he consented. After the British and Canadian privy councils gave their approval for the union (which was sought as the couple was expected to produce an heir to those countries' thrones), the Queen-in-Council gave the legally required assent, and, 29 July, Charles and Diana were married at St Paul's Cathedral, before 3,500 invited guests and an estimated worldwide television audience of 750 million people. All of the Queen's Governors-General, as well as Europe's crowned heads, attended (save for King Juan Carlos I of Spain, who was advised not to attend because the newlyweds' honeymoon would involve a stop over in the disputed territory of Gibraltar). Most of Europe's elected heads of state were also amongst the guests, with the exceptions of the President of Greece, Constantine Karamanlis (who declined because Greece's exiled monarch, Constantine II, a kinsman and friend of the bridegroom, had been invited as "King of the Hellenes"), and the President of Ireland, Patrick Hillery (who was advised by Taoiseach Charles Haughey not to attend because of the dispute over the status of Northern Ireland). right|thumb|TRH The Prince and The Princess of Wales with Sandro Pertini The couple made their homes at Highgrove House, near Tetbury, and Kensington Palace. Almost immediately, the new Princess of Wales became a star attraction, chased by the paparazzi, and her every move followed by millions through the mass media. The couple had two children: Princes William (born 21 June 1982) and Henry (known as "Harry") (born 15 September 1984). Charles set precedent by being the first royal father to be present at his children's births. Persistent suggestions have been made that the father of Harry is not Charles but James Hewitt with whom Diana had an affair. These suggestions have been based on a physical similarity between Hewitt and Harry. However Hewitt stated to the press in 2002 that Harry had already been born by the time the affair between him and Diana began.

Separation and divorce

The union between the Prince and Princess of Wales soon became troubled; within five years, the "fairytale" marriage was on the brink of collapse. The continued presence of Camilla Parker-Bowles in events and circumstances that also involved the royal couple became intolerable to Diana. Allies of Charles who spoke both publicly and off the record against Diana alleged that she was unstable and temperamental; one by one, she apparently secured the dismissal of many of Charles' long-standing staff members and fell out with his friends, as well as members of her own family– her father, mother, and brother– as well as members of the Royal Family, such as Sarah, Duchess of York. To the Palace's regret, the Princess sought counsel outside generally accepted sources of royal advice. In response to the succour sought by the Prince, Diana responded in kind. Charles, however, was also blamed for the marital troubles, as he resumed his adulterous affair with Parker-Bowles. Though they remained a couple in public, Charles and Diana had effectively separated by the late 1980s, the Prince living in Highgrove and the Princess at Kensington Palace. Their increased periods apart and obvious discomfort in each other's presence began to be noticed by the media, and this, plus evidence and recriminations of infidelity, were broadcast in tabloids and the news. By 1992, the marriage was over in all but name; in December of that year, then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, John Major, announced in the British parliament the Prince and Princess' formal separation, after which the media began to take sides, starting what came to be known as the ''War of the Waleses''. In October 1993, Princess Diana wrote to a friend that she believed her husband was now in love with Tiggy Legge-Bourke and wanted to marry her. The marriage of Charles and Diana was formally ended in divorce on 28 August 1996.

On 31 August 1997, a year after the Prince and Princess divorced, Princess Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris, along with her companion Dodi Fayed and driver Henri Paul. The Prince of Wales overruled the palace protocol experts– who argued that as Princess Diana was no longer a member of the Royal Family, the responsibility for her funeral arrangements belonged to her blood relatives, the Spencers– and flew to Paris, with Princess Diana's sisters, to accompany his ex-wife's body home. He also insisted that, as the mother of the presumed future king (her son William), she be given a formal royal funeral; a new category of formal funeral was especially created for her.

Second marriage

In 1993 the British tabloids came into the possession of recordings of a 1989 telephone conversation allegedly between the Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker-Bowles, in which Charles expressed regret for the indignities she had endured because of her relationship with him, and which revealed graphic expressions of a physical intimacy between the two.

Engagement and wedding to Camilla

Clarence House announced on 10 February 2005 that Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles were engaged; the Prince presented her with an engagement ring that had belonged to his grandmother. In a Privy Council meeting on 2 March, the Queen's consent to the marriage (as required by the Royal Marriages Act 1772) was recorded. In Canada, however, the Department of Justice announced its decision that the Queen's Privy Council for Canada was not required to meet to give its consent to the marriage, as the union would not result in offspring and thus would have no impact on the succession to the Canadian throne.

The marriage was to have been on 8 April of that year, and was to take place in a civil ceremony at Windsor Castle, with a subsequent religious blessing at St George's Chapel. But, because the conduct of a civil marriage at Windsor Castle would oblige the venue thereafter to be available to anyone wishing to be married there, the location was changed to the Windsor Guildhall. On 4 April it was announced that the marriage would be delayed by one day to allow for the Prince of Wales and some of the invited dignitaries to attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II. Charles' parents did not attend the marriage ceremony; the Queen's reluctance to attend arising from her position as Supreme Governor of the Church of England. The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh did, however, attend the service of blessing, and held a reception for the newlyweds at Windsor Castle, afterwards.

Act of Penitence

A unique feature during the Blessing of Charles and Camilla's marriage by the Archbishop of Canterbury was the inclusion of the strongest act of penitence from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. The royal couple led the congregation in declaring:

We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, which we, from time to time, have committed by word, thought and deed, against thy Divine Majesty, provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us.

Legality of civil wedding

The wedding made Charles the first member of the Royal Family to have a civil, rather than religious, wedding in England. Official documents had been published by BBC that stated such a marriage was illegal, though these were dismissed by Clarence House, and explained to be obsolete by the sitting government.

Personal interests

In his years as heir apparent, the Prince of Wales has taken on a wide array of interests and activities, and devoted his time and effort to charity work and collaborating with local communities. Since founding The Prince's Trust, he established fifteen more charitable organisations, and now serves as president of all of those, plus two others; together, these form a loose alliance called ''The Prince's Charities'', which claim to raise over £110 million annually. Charles is also patron of over 350 other charities and organisations, and carries out duties related to these throughout the Commonwealth realms; for example, he uses his tours of Canada as a way to help draw attention to youth, the disabled, the environment, the arts, medicine, the elderly, heritage conservation, and education. The Prince was described by his ex-private secretary as a dissident who works against majority political opinions. Jonathan Dimbleby has reported that the Prince "has accumulated a number of certainties about the state of the world and does not relish contradiction."

The built environment

The Prince of Wales has frequently shared his views on architecture and urban planning in public forums, claiming to "care deeply about issues such as the environment, architecture, inner-city renewal, and the quality of life." He is known to be an advocate of neo-traditional ideas, such as those of Christopher Alexander and Leon Krier, which were illustrated in his 1984 attack on the British architectural community in a speech given to the Royal Institute of British Architects, describing a proposed extension to the National Gallery in London as a "monstrous carbuncle". Charles also published a book and created a documentary entitled ''A Vision of Britain'', which critiqued some aspects of modern architecture. Despite criticism from the professional architectural press, the Prince has continued to put forward his views, stressing traditional urbanism, the need for human scale, and the restoration of historic buildings as an integrated element of new development and sustainable design. Two of the Charles' charities in particular forward his theories on design: The Prince's Regeneration Trust (formed by a merger of Regeneration Through Heritage and the Phoenix Trust in 2006) and The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment (which absorbed The Prince of Wales's Institute of Architecture in 2001). Further, the village of Poundbury was created at the instigation of Prince Charles, with a master plan by Leon Krier.

Charles assisted with the establishment of a National Trust for the built environment in Canada, after lamenting, in 1996, the unbridled destruction of many of the country's historic urban cores. He offered his assistance to the Department of Canadian Heritage in the creation of a trust modelled on the British variant, and, with the passing of the 2007 federal budget by his mother's representative in Canada, a Canadian national trust was finally fully implemented. In 1999, the Prince also agreed to offer the use of his title to the Prince of Wales Prize for Municipal Heritage Leadership, awarded by the Heritage Canada Foundation to municipal governments that have shown sustained commitment to the conservation of historic places. Charles has also been the recipient of awards for his efforts in regard to architecture, such as the National Building Museum's Vincent Scully Prize he received in 2005, while visiting the United States and touring southern Mississippi and New Orleans to survey the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina; he donated $25,000 of the prize money to help restore communities damaged by the storm.

Starting in 1997 the Prince of Wales also visited Romania to view and draw attention to some of the destruction caused during the Communist rule of Nicolae Ceauşescu, particularly Orthodox monasteries and Saxon villages of Transylvania, where he purchased a house. Charles also became patron of two Romanian built environment organisations: the Mihai Eminescu Trust and the International Network for Traditional Building, Architecture, and Urbanism, an advocate of architecture that respects cultural tradition and identity. Charles also has “a deep understanding of Islamic art and architecture”, and has been involved in the construction of a building and garden at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies which combine Islamic and Oxford architectural styles.

Charles' involvement in architecture has also attracted controversy, especially his personal intervention to redesign projects whose architectural style or approach he has disagreed with. He has been especially opposed to styles such as modernism and functionalism. Richard Rogers, recipient of the Pritzker Prize and Stirling Prize, has described the Prince's personal intervention in projects as "an abuse of power" and "unconstitutional". In 2009 Charles wrote a letter to the Qatari royal family, the developers of the Chelsea Barracks site to be designed by Rogers, that suggested his design was "unsuitable". Subsequently, Rogers was removed from the project and The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment was appointed to propose an alternative. Rogers has also claimed the Prince intervened to stop his designs for the Royal Opera House and Paternoster Square.

Charles' personal interventions have attracted critique from prominent members of the architectural community. Norman Foster, Zaha Hadid, Jacques Herzog, Jean Nouvel, Renzo Piano, and Frank Gehry among others wrote a letter to The Sunday Times to this effect; each is a recipient of the Pritzker Prize. They wrote that "private comments" and "behind-the-scenes lobbying" by the Prince counteracted the "open and democratic planning process" in the case of the Chelsea Barracks project. Similarly, Piers Gough CBE and other architects wrote a letter encouraging colleagues to boycott Charles' address to the Royal Institute of British Architects, with Gough calling Charles' views on architecture "elitist".

The natural environment

Since the early 1980s, Charles has taken a keen interest in environmental issues, taking a leadership role in promoting environmentally sensitive thinking. Upon his moving into his Highgrove estate, he became increasingly focused on organic farming, an attention that culminated in the 1990 launch of his own organic brand: Duchy Originals, which now sells more than 200 different sustainably produced products, from food to garden furniture, the profits from which (£6 million, as of 2008) are donated to The Prince's Charities. Documenting this work on his estate, Charles co-authored (with Charles Clover, environment editor of the ''Daily Telegraph'') ''Highgrove: An Experiment in Organic Gardening and Farming'', published in 1993, and offers his patronage to Garden Organic. Along similar lines, the Prince of Wales became involved with farming and various industries within it, regularly meeting with farmers to discuss their trade; though the 2001 foot-and-mouth epidemic in England prevented Charles from visiting farmers in Saskatchewan, organic farmers there came to meet him at the Assiniboia town hall. In 2004, he also founded the Mutton Renaissance Campaign, which aims to support British sheep farmers and make mutton more attractive to Britons. His organic farming efforts, however, attracted media criticism: According to ''The Independent'' in October 2006 "...the story of Duchy Originals has involved compromises and ethical blips, wedded to a determined merchandising programme." and, in February 2007, Duchy products themselves came under attack, with the tabloid ''Daily Mail'' claiming that the food was "unhealthier than Big Macs." In 2007, Charles also launched The Prince's May Day Network, which encourages businesses to take action on climate change.

An announcement was made by Clarence House in December 2006 that the Prince of Wales would make his household's travel arrangements more eco-friendly and, in 2007, Charles published in his annual accounts the details of his own carbon footprint, as well as targets for reducing his household's carbon emissions. That same year, he received the 10th annual Global Environmental Citizen Award from the Harvard Medical School's Center for Health and the Global Environment, the director of which, Eric Chivian, stated: "For decades the Prince of Wales has been a champion of the natural world... He has been a world leader in efforts to improve energy efficiency and in reducing the discharge of toxic substances on land, and into the air and the oceans". However, Charles' travel by commercial airliner to the United States to attend the award ceremony drew criticism from some environmental activists, such as the Plane climate change action group's campaigner Joss Garman, and in April 2009 he faced similar criticisms for chartering a private jet for a five day tour of Europe to promote environmental issues.

The Prince gave a speech to the European Parliament on 14 February 2008, in which he called for European Union leadership in the war against climate change. During the standing ovation that followed, Nigel Farage, the leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), was the only MEP to remain seated and went on to describe Charles's advisers as "naive and foolish at best." Farage continued: "How can somebody like Prince Charles be allowed to come to the European Parliament at this time to announce he thinks it should have more powers? It would have been better for the country he wants to rule one day if he had stayed home and tried to persuade Gordon Brown to give the people the promised referendum [on the Treaty of Lisbon]."

The Prince gave a speech to the Low Carbon Prosperity Summit in a European Parliament chamber on 9 February 2011, in which he lashed out at climate change skeptics. He said they are playing "a reckless game of roulette" with the planet's future and are having a "corrosive effect" on public opinion. He also spoke about the need to protect fisheries, the Amazon rain forest and about making low-carbon emissions affordable and competitive.

Philosophies and religious beliefs

Sir Laurens van der Post became a friend of Charles in 1977, a relationship which led him to be dubbed the "guru to Prince Charles", and made godfather to Charles' son, Prince William. From him, the Prince of Wales developed a focus on philosophy, especially that of Asian and Middle Eastern nations, and New Age theology, praising Kabbalistic artworks, and penning a memorial for Kathleen Raine, the Neoplatonist poet, who died in 2003.

The Prince is known to attend services at several different Anglican churches near his home at Highgrove, Gloucestershire and is known to regularly worship at Crathie Kirk when staying at Balmoral Castle. In 2000, he was appointed as Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

The Prince of Wales also travels (amidst some secrecy) each year to Mount Athos to spend time in the Orthodox monasteries there, as well as in Romania, demonstrating his interest in Orthodox Christianity. Along with his father, who was born and raised as Greek Orthodox, Charles is patron of The Friends of Mount Athos, as well as the 21st International Congress of Byzantine Studies. It is also believed that Prince Charles has an Orthodox icon corner in his house where he keeps the majority of his Orthodox icons. None of this is surprising, as Prince Charles' father was raised Greek Orthodox, but converted before marrying the future Queen Elizabeth II. It is reported that in more recent years, even his father, Prince Philip has joined him in occasional retreats to the peninsula.

Charles is also patron of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies at the University of Oxford.

Alternative medicine

Charles has demonstrated an interest in alternative medicine, and his promotion of it has caused controversy. In 2004, Charles' Foundation for Integrated Health divided the scientific and medical community over its campaign encouraging general practitioners to offer herbal and other alternative treatments to National Health Service patients, and in May 2006, Charles made a speech to an audience of health ministers from various countries at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, urging them to develop a plan for integrating conventional and alternative medicine and argued for homeopathy.

In April 2008 ''The Times'' published a letter from Edzard Ernst, Professor of Complementary Medicine at the University of Exeter, that asked the Prince's Foundation to recall two guides promoting "alternative medicine", saying: "the majority of alternative therapies appear to be clinically ineffective, and many are downright dangerous." A speaker for the foundation countered the criticism by stating: "We entirely reject the accusation that our online publication ''Complementary Healthcare: A Guide'' contains any misleading or inaccurate claims about the benefits of complementary therapies. On the contrary, it treats people as adults and takes a responsible approach by encouraging people to look at reliable sources of information... so that they can make informed decisions. The foundation does not promote complementary therapies." Ernst has recently published a book with science writer Simon Singh condemning alternative medicine called ''Trick or Treatment: Alternative Medicine on Trial''. The book is ironically dedicated to "HRH the Prince of Wales" and the last chapter is very critical of his advocacy of "complementary" and "alternative" treatments.

The Prince's Duchy Originals produce a variety of CAM products including a “Detox Tincture” that Professor Edzard Ernst has denounced as "financially exploiting the vulnerable" and "outright quackery". In May 2009, the Advertising Standards Authority criticised an email that Duchy Originals had sent out to advertise its Echina-Relief, Hyperi-Lift and Detox Tinctures products saying it was misleading. The Prince personally wrote at least seven letters to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) shortly before they relaxed the rules governing labelling of such herbal products, a move that has been widely condemned by scientists and medical bodies.

On 31 October 2009 it was reported that Prince Charles had personally lobbied Health Secretary Andy Burnham regarding greater provision of alternative treatments in the NHS.

In 2010, following accounting irregularities noted by the auditor, two former officials at the Prince's Foundation were arrested for fraud believed to total £300,000. Four days after the arrests, the FIH announced that it would close, claiming that it "has achieved its key objective of promoting the use of integrated health." The charity's finance director, accountant George Gray, was convicted of theft totalling £253,000 and sentenced to three years in prison. The Prince's Foundation was re-branded and re-launched in late 2010 as the ''College of Medicine.'' It continues to act as an alternative medicine lobby group.

Humanitarian issues

The plight of various peoples has been a target of Charles' efforts, predominantly the long-term unemployed, people who have been in trouble with the law, people who are in difficulty at school, and people who have been in care. The Prince's Trust is the main outlet through which Charles works with young people, offering loans to groups, business people, and others who have had difficulty receiving outside support. Fundraising concerts are regularly held in benefit of the trust, with leading pop, rock, and classical musicians taking part. In Canada, Charles has also supported humanitarian projects, taking part, along with his two sons, in the ceremonies marking the 1998 International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and helping to launch the Canadian Youth Business Foundation in Saskatchewan in 2001, when he also visited Scott Collegiate, an inner-city school in Regina.

After spending time in the Northwest Territories in 1975, Charles formed a special interest in the Canadian north, as well as Canada's Aboriginal Peoples, the leaders of which he met and sometimes took time to walk and meditate with. Reflecting this association, the Prince of Wales has been conferred with special titles from First Nations communities: in 1996 Cree and Ojibway students in Winnipeg named the Prince ''Leading Star'', and in 2001 he was dubbed ''Pisimwa Kamiwohkitahpamikohk'', or "the sun looks at him in a good way", during his first visit to the province of Saskatchewan. He was also one of the first world leaders to express strong concerns about the human rights record of Nicolae Ceauşescu, initiating objections in the international arena, and subsequently supported the FARA Foundation, which runs Romanian orphanages.

Charles attended the Bilderberg Group conference in 1986 specifically to attend a debate on the South African economic crisis.

An example of his concern for humanitarian issues has been his recent (2011) launch of his Pakistan Recovery Fund which aims to raise a minimum of £2million towards health, education, reconstruction and livelihood projects.

Hobbies and sports

Since his youth the Prince was an avid player of polo, as a part of competitive teams until 1992, and strictly for charity from then until 2005, after which he ceased to participate because of two notable injuries he suffered during play: in 1990 he broke his arm, and in 2001 was briefly unconscious after a fall. Charles also frequently took part in fox hunting, before the sport was banned in the United Kingdom in 2005. By the late 1990s, as opposition to the activity was growing, the Prince of Wales' participation in this activity was viewed as a "political statement" by those opposed to it, such as the League Against Cruel Sports, which launched the attack against Charles after he took his sons on the Beaufort Hunt in 1999, at a time when the government was trying to ban the hunting of foxes with hounds. The Prince has also been a keen salmon angler since youth, and a supporter of Orri Vigfússon's efforts to protect the North Atlantic Salmon. Charles has frequently fished the River Dee in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, while he claims his most special angling memories are from his time in Vopnafjörður, Iceland.

Charles has also pursued the visual arts, focusing on watercolour, and exhibiting and selling a number of his paintings, as well as publishing books on the subject. In university he dabbled in acting, appearing in amateur productions of a comedic nature, an enjoyment of which continued later into the Prince's life, as evidenced by his organising of a comedy gala to celebrate his 60th birthday. He also has an interest in illusionism, becoming a member of The Magic Circle after passing his audition by performing the cups and balls effect. The Prince acts today as patron of a number of theatres, acting troupes, and orchestral ensembles, including the Regina Symphony Orchestra, and the Royal Shakespeare Company, and is reportedly a fan of Canadian singer and song writer Leonard Cohen. He is also a collector of automobiles, particularly the British marque Aston Martin, having acquired numerous models and such tight connections with the brand–being a frequent visitor to the factory and its service department, and a guest of honour at most of the company's special launch events– that special ''Prince of Wales'' edition Aston Martins have been created on occasion.

Charles is a supporter of Burnley Football Club.

Official duties

As Prince of Wales, Prince Charles undertakes a number of official duties on behalf of his mother, in her role as sovereign of any of the Commonwealth realms. He will frequently stand in for the Queen at the funerals of foreign dignitaries (which the Queen customarily does not attend), and at investitures into British orders. It was when he attended the funeral of Pope John Paul II that Charles caused controversy: when shaking hands with other guests, Charles was surprised to find himself shaking that of Robert Mugabe, the President of Zimbabwe, who had been seated next to the Prince. Charles' office subsequently released a statement saying: "The Prince of Wales was caught by surprise and not in a position to avoid shaking Mr. Mugabe's hand. The Prince finds the current Zimbabwean regime abhorrent. He has supported the Zimbabwe Defence and Aid Fund which works with those being oppressed by the regime. The Prince also recently met Pius Ncube, the Archbishop of Bulawayo, an outspoken critic of the government."

Both Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall travel abroad on behalf of the United Kingdom. The Prince has been regarded as an effective advocate of the country, with his visit to the Republic of Ireland, where he delivered a personally researched and written speech on Anglo-Irish affairs that was warmly received by Irish politicians and the media, being cited as an example. His service to the Canadian Armed Forces permits him to be informed of troop activities, and allows him to visit these troops while in Canada or overseas, taking part in ceremonial occasions. For instance, in 2001, the Prince placed a specially commissioned wreath, made from vegetation taken from French battlefields, at the Canadian Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and in 1981 he became the patron of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum.

Prince Charles makes regular tours of Wales, going there for a week of engagements each summer, attending important national occasions, such as opening the Senedd. In 2000, Charles revived the tradition of the Prince of Wales having an official harpist, in order to foster Welsh talent at playing the harp, the national instrument of Wales. He and the Duchess of Cornwall also spend one week each year in Scotland, where the Prince is patron of a number of Scottish organisations.

Prince Charles is a Director of "The Royal Collection Trust". and an Assistant of the Worshipful Company of Shipwrights.

On 27 March 2011 Prince Charles attended in the Christchurch memorial service at Westminster Abbey for acknowledging the generosity, sympathy and support New Zealand has received from the United Kingdom since the earthquake hit.

Media

Sometimes referred to as ''Chazza'' (along the lines of ''Gazza'', ''Hezza'', and similar coinages), and parodied, such as on ''Spitting Image'', and by Craig Ferguson—in a segment known as ''The Rather Late Programme with Prince Charles''—on ''The Late Late Show'', Prince Charles has been a focus of the world media since his birth, attention that increased as he matured. Prior to his first marriage, he was presented as the world's most eligible bachelor on the cover of ''Time'', and his various affairs and exploits were followed and reported. With his marriage to Diana the attention increased, though predominantly towards a Princess of Wales, who became a star attraction, chased by the paparazzi, and her every move (including every change in hairstyle) closely followed by millions. As their relationship began to deteriorate, Diana began to use the media to her advantage, and became closely involved in placing stories about the royal marriage in the press, thenceforth splitting the media's support, with Charles having ''The Mirror'' and the ''Telegraph'' on his side.

In their quest to gain ever more stories on a Prince of Wales, the media breached Charles' privacy on a number of occasions. In 2006, the Prince filed a court case against the ''Mail on Sunday'', after excerpts of his personal journals were published, revealing his opinions on matters, such as the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong to China in 1997, in which Charles described the Chinese government officials as "appalling old waxworks." Others have used their past connections with the Prince to profit from the media, such as when an ex-member of Charles' household took to the press an internal memo in which Charles commented on ambition and opportunity, and which was widely interpreted as blaming meritocracy for creating a combative atmosphere in society. In retort, Charles stated: "In my view, it is just as great an achievement to be a plumber or a bricklayer as it is to be a lawyer or a doctor," and the memo was cited in Lynne Truss' critique of British manners, ''Talk to the Hand'', as a valid observation on how the positive motivational impact of meritocracy might be balanced against the negative impact of a competitive society.

Overall, Charles developed a dislike for the popular press, which was accidentally revealed when his comments to his son, William, during a press photo-call in 2005 was caught on a nearby microphone: "I hate doing this... These bloody people," and about the BBC's royal reporter, Nicholas Witchell, in particular: "I can't bear that man. I mean, he's so awful, he really is."

The Prince of Wales though has appeared as himself on a number of occasions in continuing series. In 1984 he read his children's book, ''The Old Man of Lochnagar'', on the BBC's ''Jackanory'' programme. The UK soap opera ''Coronation Street'' featured an appearance by Charles during the show's 40th anniversary in 2000, as did the New Zealand adult cartoon series ''bro'Town'' (2005), after he attended a performance by the show's creators during a tour of the country. He reportedly turned down an invitation to appear in a cameo role in an episode of ''Doctor Who''. Charles also continues to give interviews, such as that which was conducted by Ant & Dec for the 30th anniversary of The Prince's Trust in 2006.

Residences

Clarence House, the former London residence of the late Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, is the Prince of Wales' current official residence. Previously, he resided in an apartment at St James's Palace. Charles also holds a private estate in Gloucestershire, Highgrove House, and one in Scotland, the Birkhall estate near Balmoral Castle and also previously owned by the Queen Mother. Upon the occasion of his marriage to Diana, Charles had reduced his voluntary tax contribution from the profits generated by the Duchy of Cornwall from 50% to 25%.

In 2007 the Prince purchased a 192–acre (150 acres of grazing and parkland, and of woodland) property in Carmarthenshire, and applied for permission to convert the farm into a Welsh home for him and the Duchess of Cornwall, to be rented out as holiday flats when the royal couple is not in residence. Though neighbours said the proposed alterations flouted local planning regulations, the application was put on hold while a report was drafted on how the alterations would affect the local bat population. Charles and Camilla took residence at the new property, called ''Llwynywermod'', in June 2008.

In 2006 the Prince bought a house in the village of Viscri in south-eastern Transylvania, one of the Saxon villages with fortified churches in Transylvania designated in 1993 as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO; in 2008 he bought another house in the village of Valea Zălanului / Zalánpatak in the Székely Land region of Transylvania, a 16th century village probably founded by one of the Prince's Transylvanian ancestors. Both properties are rented out as guest houses when the Prince is not in residence.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

Charles has held a number of titles throughout his life, as the grandson of the monarch, the son of the monarch and, later, honoured in his own right with princely and noble titles. When in conversation with the Prince of Wales, the practice is to initially address him as ''Your Royal Highness'' and thereafter as ''Sir''.

There has been speculation as to what regnal name the Prince will choose upon his succession to the throne. If he keeps his current first name, he will be known as ''Charles III''. However, it was reported in 2005 that Charles has suggested he may choose to reign as ''George VII'' in honour of his maternal grandfather, and to avoid association with the Stuart kings Charles I (who was beheaded) and Charles II (who was known for his playboy lifestyle), as well as to be sensitive to the memory of Bonnie Prince Charlie, who was called "Charles III" by his supporters. Charles' office immediately denied this report.

Honours and honorary military appointments

Charles' first honorary appointment was as Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Regiment of Wales in 1969; since that time, the Prince has also been installed as Colonel-in-Chief, Colonel, Honorary Air Commodore, Air Commodore-in-Chief, Deputy Colonel-in-Chief, Royal Honorary Colonel, Royal Colonel, and Honorary Commodore of at least 36 military formations throughout the Commonwealth. He is also the commander of the Royal Gurkha Rifles, which is the only foreign regiment in the British army.

Charles has also been the recipient of a number of honours and awards from various countries. He has been inducted into eight orders and received five decorations from amongst the Commonwealth realms, and has been the recipient of 17 different appointments and decorations by foreign states, as well as nine honorary degrees from universities in the United Kingdom and New Zealand.

Arms

Bannerimage	Prince of Wales Standard.svg
Notes	The Prince's own coat of arms are the escutcheon of the arms of the sovereign in right of the United Kingdom with a label for difference. The version used everywhere but Scotland is listed here. Within Scotland, the arms of the Duke of Rothesay, which quarters the arms of the Great Steward and of the Lords of the Isles, placing the arms of the heir apparent to the Scots throne on an inescutcheon in the centre, are used.
Adopted	1911
Crest	Upon the Royal helm the imperial crown Proper, thereon a lion statant gardant Or crowned with the crown of the Prince of Wales
Escutcheon	Quarterly 1st and 4th gules three lions passant guardant in pale or armed and langed azure 2nd or a lion rampant gules armed and langued azure within a double tressure flory counterflory of the second 3rd azure a harp or stringed argent overall an escutcheon of Royal Badge of Wales.
Supporters	Dexter a lion rampant gardant Or imperially crowned Proper, sinister a unicorn Argent, armed, crined and unguled Or, gorged with a coronet Or composed of crosses patée and fleurs de lis a chain affixed thereto passing between the forelegs and reflexed over the back also Or
Motto	ICH DIEN''(German: I serve)''
Orders	The Order of the Garter ribbon.HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE''(French: Shame be to him who thinks evil of it)''
Other elements	The whole differenced by a plain Label of three points Argent, as the eldest child of the sovereign.
Banner	The banners used by the Prince vary depending upon location. Apart from the exceptions below, the Royal Standard of the United Kingdom is used, differenced as in his arms with a label of three points argent, and the escutcheon of the arms of the Principality of Wales in the centre. This is the standard that is used outside the United Kingdom by the prince and also that used throughout the entire United Kingdom when the prince is acting in an official capacity associated with the UK Armed Forces. 30px In Wales the banner is based upon the Coat of Arms of the Principality of Wales, (the historic arms of the Kingdom of Gwynedd), which consist of four quadrants, the first and fourth with a red lion on a gold field, and the second and third with a gold lion on a red field. Superimposed is an escutcheon vert bearing the single-arched crown of the Prince of Wales. 30px In Scotland the personal banner used since 1974 is based upon three ancient Scottish titles: Duke of Rothesay, (The heir apparent to the King of Scots), High Steward of Scotland and Lord of the Isles. The flag is divided into four quadrants as per the arms of the Chief of Clan Stewart of Appin; the first and fourth quadrants comprise a gold field with a blue and silver checkered band in the centre; the second and third quadrants displaying a black galley on a silver field. The arms are differenced from those of Appin by the addition of an inescutcheon bearing the tressured lion rampant of Scotland; defaced by a plain label of three points Azure to indicate the heir apparent. 45px Also used in Scotland is a standard, ''viz'' the Royal Standard of Scotland, again defaced with a label of three points Azure to indicate the heir apparent. 40px In Cornwall, the banner is "sable fifteen bezants Or", that is, a black field bearing fifteen gold coins, which Prince Charles uses in his capacity as Duke of Cornwall. 50px The Prince of Wales also holds a personal heraldic banner for Canada, consisting of the shield of the Canadian Royal Arms defaced with both a blue roundel surrounded by a wreath of gold maple leaves, within which is a depiction of the Prince of Wales' feathers, and a white label of three points.
Badge	Three ostrich feathers encircled by a gold coronet
Symbolism	As with the Royal Arms of the United Kingdom. The first and fourth quarters are the arms of England, the second of Scotland, the third of Ireland.
Previous versions	}}

Ancestry

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Due to the insistence of the royal family to remain to be called Windsor, Charles is a member of the House of Windsor, a cadet branch of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (also known simply as the House of Glücksburg), a branch of the House of Oldenburg, ultimately descended from Elimar I, Count of Oldenburg. The male-line descendants of the Queen Elizabeth II are distinct from other members of the House of Windsor, who are descended in male line from the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

Issue

29 April 2011 15 September 1984

style="background:#708090;"	Name !! style="background:#708090;">Birth !! style="background:#708090;" colspan="2"	Marriage	Issue
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge	21 June 1982	|	Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge>Catherine Middleton
Prince Harry of Wales	|

See also

Charles, Prince of Wales bibliography

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

Official website of HRH The Prince of Wales

Official Duchy of Cornwall Cottages website

Monarchy Wales – leading campaign organisation

Military Career

Prince Charles as a Young Bachelor – slideshow by ''Life magazine''

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland – House of Windsor

Family Ties to the Royal Wedding 9 April 2005

Official website of 'The Prince's Trust'

View an image of an official portrait of Prince Charles by David Griffiths

The Prince's Official Canadian Visit (2001)

"Saskatchewan Honours Future King" (2001)

Significance of Treaties Reaffirmed Through Historic Royal Visit (2001)

View clip from Prince Charles interview by David Frost in 1969

Sympathetic appraisal of the Prince's contributions to architecture

The Prince of Wales brushes up on first aid skills

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af:Charles, Prins van Wallis ang:Carl Wēala Þēoden ar:الأمير تشارلز az:Uels şahzadəsi Çarlz bs:Charles, princ od Velsa br:Carlo bg:Чарлз (принц на Уелс) ca:Carles de Gal·les cs:Charles, princ z Walesu cy:Y Tywysog Siarl, Tywysog Cymru da:Charles, prins af Wales de:Charles Mountbatten-Windsor, Prince of Wales et:Charles, Walesi prints el:Κάρολος, Πρίγκιπας της Ουαλίας es:Carlos de Gales eo:Karlo, princo de Kimrujo eu:Karlos Galeskoa fa:چارلز فیلیپ آرتور جورج fr:Charles de Galles ga:Charles, Prionsa na Breataine Bige gd:Prionnsa Tearlach, Prionnsa a' Chuimrigh gl:Carlos de Inglaterra gu:પ્રિન્સ ચાર્લ્સ ko:웨일스 공 찰스 hy:Արքայազն Չարլզ hi:चार्ल्स, वेल्स के युवराज hr:Charles, princ od Walesa id:Charles dari Wales is:Karl Bretaprins it:Carlo, principe di Galles he:צ'ארלס, נסיך ויילס ka:ჩარლზ მაუნტბატენ-უინძორი kw:Charlys, Pryns Kembra la:Carolus Walliae Princeps lv:Princis Čārlzs lt:Princas Čarlzas hu:Károly walesi herceg mk:Чарлс (принц од Велс) mr:वेल्सचा युवराज चार्ल्स arz:تشارلز (امير ويلز) ms:Charles, Putera Wales mn:Уэльсийн хунтайж Чарльз my:ချားလ်စ် ဝေလမင်းသား nl:Charles, prins van Wales ja:チャールズ (プリンス・オブ・ウェールズ) no:Charles, fyrste av Wales nn:Prins Charles av Wales oc:Carles Windsor pnb:شہزادہ چارلس pl:Karol, książę Walii pt:Carlos, Príncipe de Gales ro:Charles, Prinț de Wales ru:Чарльз, принц Уэльский se:Charles (Walesa prinsa) sco:The Prince Charles, Duke o Rothesay simple:Charles, Prince of Wales sl:Charles, valižanski princ sr:Чарлс, принц од Велса fi:Walesin prinssi Charles sv:Prins Charles, prins av Wales ta:வேல்சு இளவரசர் சார்லசு te:చార్లెస్, వేల్స్ యొక్క యువరాజు th:สมเด็จเจ้าฟ้าชายชาลส์แห่งเวลส์ tr:Galler Prensi Charles uk:Чарльз, принц Уельський vi:Charles, Hoàng thân xứ Wales war:Charles, Prinsipe han Wales zh-yue:查理斯王子 zh:查爾斯 (威爾斯親王)