The birth of an heir is a time for national celebration.
Street parties were held, commemorative plates were made and broadcasting was paused for the royal announcement.
Baby Wales, as he was known for his first few days, was born at around 9pm on June 21, 1982, weighing 7lb 1oz.
The most dedicated members of the press and public gathered outside St. Mary’s Hospital and Buckingham Palace, where a notice announcing the birth was placed.
Everyone was desperate to catch a glimpse of the future king before anyone else.
But the late Queen, known for her wry sense of humour, had one concern on her mind.
Andrew Morton wrote in his book Diana: Her True Story: ‘When the Queen came to visit her grandchild the following day her comment was atypical.
‘As she looked at the tiny bundle she said drily: “Thank goodness he hasn’t got ears like his father.”‘
Baby Wales, as Prince William was known for his first few days, was born at around 9pm on June 21, 1982, weighing 7lb 1oz. Diana and Charles are pictured leaving St. Mary’s Hospital with William
Cheering crowds greet the announcement of the birth of Prince William in 1982
Queen Elizabeth II (pictured with Prince Charles in 1990) reportedly took one look at baby William and said: ‘Thank goodness he hasn’t got ears like his father’
Prince Charles was born with large ears compared to his head, which have become one of his most well-known and ridiculed features.
The late Duke of Edinburgh reportedly said baby Charles looked like a ‘plum pudding’ when he was a baby.
Diana had been a difficult pregnancy – and an even more challenging delivery.
Morton wrote: ‘During her labour Diana’s temperature soared dramatically, which in turn gave rise to concern for the baby’s health.’
She was in labour for 16 hours and she was attended to by the Queen’s own surgeon, George Pinker, who also oversaw her pregnancy.
Morton wrote that Diana was continually sick and at one point Mr Pinker and his fellow doctors considered performing an emergency Caesarean operation.
But in the end Diana was given an epidural and gave birth naturally.
Charles was by her side during the delivery and she gave birth standing up with her husband holding her, as advised by natural childbirth activist Sheila Kitzinger.
Press photographers wait outside the Lindo Wing of St Mary’s Hospital following the birth of Prince William
A notice announcing the birth was placed outside Buckingham Palace
The news of the royal birth made the front page of the national papers
Diana’s birth would be a complete contrast to the Queen’s reflection that, with modern anaesthesia, birth had become ‘a sleep and a forgetting’.
While Diana enjoyed the experience of having her husband by her side, she later recounted the ‘disappointment’ Charles felt when Harry was born and not a daughter.
And then came choosing a name.
Morton wrote: ‘Charles wanted to call his first son Arthur and his second Albert, after Queen Victoria’s consort.
‘William and Harry were Diana’s choices while her husband’s preferences were used in their children’s middle names.’
Baby Wales’ name was chosen after William the Conqueror, victor of the famed Battle of Hastings in 1066.
He was christened William Arthur Philip Louis.
His second name came from the legendary King of the Round Table, his grandfather inspired third name and the name Louis rounds out the mix – a name he has since passed down to his second son.
But not everyone shared the good news.
Prince Charles (pictured right in 1949) was born with large ears compared to his head, which have become one of his most well-known features
Diana: Her True Story is an authorised biography of Princess Diana, published in June 1992. Andrew Morton – pictured – has published biographies of royal figures and celebrities including Tom Cruise and Madonna
Baby William and Diana at home in Kensington Palace in 1983
Morton wrote: ‘William and Harry were Diana’s choices while her husband’s preferences were used in their children’s middle names’
Despite now being thought of as Charles’s right-hand woman, Princess Anne and Charles went through a challenging period in their relationship.
According to the book Battle of Brothers by Robert Lacey, Anne’s ‘notorious frostiness seemed to grow a couple of degrees chillier whether the subject of Diana came up’.
Anne appears to have been unreceptive when told that Diana had given birth to Prince William in June 1982.
The princess had been touring Indian reservations in New Mexico for Save the Children when a reporter asked for her reaction to the good news.
‘I didn’t know she had one,’ the princess snapped.
Another reporter tried with: ‘Do you think everyone is making too much fuss of the baby?’
‘Yes,’ came the curt response.
At the time, says Lacey, Anne was undertaking more than 200 engagements a year compared with Diana’s 50 and only 90-plus for Charles.
Apparently frosty times on the balcony for Trooping the Colour in 1983 where Princess Anne and Diana are pictured with family
Diana with Anne at a polo match near London on the weekend before Diana’s wedding
Anne and Charles got on well as children and are pictured in the grounds of Balmoral Castle in September 1952
According to Lacey, a Palace insider explained as follows: ‘Anne works very hard and sees her sister-in-law picking up the glory. She’s sick to the back teeth with it all.’
The depth of the ill-feeling was exposed soon afterward when, although Anne had asked Charles to be a Godparent to her first child, Peter Phillips, the compliment was not reciprocated.
Anne was not invited to be William’s Godmother and was not on the list when it came to Prince Harry’s turn to be baptised in 1984.
William’s godparents instead included King Constantine II of Greece and Princess Alexandra of Kent.
His christening took place in the Music Room at Buckingham Palace on August 4, 1982, on the 82nd Birthday of his great-grandmother the Queen Mother.
William reportedly cried through the entire photoshoot as he was only a month old.
Diana gave an emotional account of the day to Morton a decade later in 1992, remembering the event in the context of the breakdown in her marriage.
‘Nobody asked me when it was suitable for William,’ she said.
’11 o’clock couldn’t have been worse. Endless pictures of the queen, queen mother, Charles and William. I was excluded totally that day.’
As Harry was carried to the font at St George’s chapel, Windsor, Anne was out with her husband in the Gloucestershire countryside – shooting rabbits.
Diana holds baby Prince William as Charles looks on during the christening of William in the Music room at Buckingham Palace on August 4, 1982
Friends and family of the Waleses are pictured following William’s christening
Charles and Diana are pictured at home with William in December 1982
For as long as possible William was allowed to grow up not knowing that his future was already mapped out for life.
He was a boisterous child, briefly known as ‘Basher Billy’ at nursery school.
But it could not have been long before a sensitive child such as William came to understand there was something different about his own life.
As he teaches his own children, George, Charlotte and Louis, about their roles within the Firm, he will be all too aware of the pressure they will face.
But even the most senior royals are able to crack a joke when the time comes.
The late Queen made a similar quip when she was asked about Prince George’s impending arrival back in 2013.
While visiting the Lake District days before her great-grandson arrived, the monarch met a group of students who eagerly asked her what gender she hoped the new baby would be.
She said: ‘I don’t think I mind. I would very much like it to arrive. I’m going on holiday.’
