Prince William

It is the evening of 21 June 1982, the first day of summer. Newspaper and television reporters near the doors of Esmeralda's Hospital in Paddington, London talk quickly into their telephones.

It's a boy, yes. Princess Diana has a little boy. At 9.3 this evening, England has a new prince, yes. And mother and child are well and child are well.

We're waiting to see Prince Charles at 11 o'clock that night. Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, comes out of the hospital.

He answers questions from the reporters about his new son. He has blue eyes, Prince Charles says. He and his mother are very well. They're coming home tomorrow. What's his name? The reporters want to know. Prince Charles smiles. We don't know, he says. We're thinking about it. Charles likes the name Arthur, but Diana does not. She wants William. A week later, the reporters have their answers.

William Arthur Philip Lewis. His mother's name for him is Will's. Early days. Prince Charles wants Mabel Anderson to be Prince William's nanny. She was Prince Charles's nanny years before. Princess Diana says no. She doesn't want an old person. They give the job to Barbara Barnes. Princess Diana is a very loving mother. She likes having William near her, and her bedroom at Kensington Palace is near his room.

Later, she often gets into bed with William and his brother at night. She says, Who loves you? They answer, You, the Princess smiles. It is 1983. Prince Charles and Princess Diana are going to visit Australia and New Zealand, but Diana wants to be with William. What can she do? Then the Prime Minister of Australia, Malcolm Fraser, writes a letter to Diana. In it he says, Please bring Prince William with you. Diana talks to Charles and he says yes. They take William to Australia with them. The young Prince stays in Woomargama, a place in New South Wales with Nanny Barnes. His mother and father often visit him. On 15 September 1984, a new brother arrives for William.

Two days later, he goes to the hospital to see him. The new child's name is Harry, and William loves playing with him.