Prince Louis of Wales ( ; Louis Arthur Charles; born 23 April 2018) is a member of the

British royal family The British royal family comprises Charles III and other members of his family. There is no strict legal or formal definition of who is or is not a member, although the Royal Household has issued different lists outlining who is considere ...

. He is the third and youngest child of

William, Prince of Wales William, Prince of Wales (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982), is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales. William was born during the reign of his pat ...

, and

Catherine, Princess of Wales Catherine, Princess of Wales (born Catherine Elizabeth Middleton; 9 January 1982), is a member of the British royal family. She is married to William, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the British throne. Born in Reading, Catherine grew ...

, and a grandson of

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

and

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William, ...

. He is fourth in the line of

succession to the British throne Succession to the British throne is determined by descent, sex, legitimacy, and religion. Under common law, the Crown is inherited by a sovereign's children or by a childless sovereign's nearest Collateral descendant, collateral line. The Bil ...

Infancy

Prince Louis was born at 11:01 BST on 23 April 2018 in

St Mary's Hospital, London St Mary's Hospital is a teaching hospital in Paddington, in the City of Westminster, London, founded in 1845. Since the UK's first academic health science centre was created in 2008, it has been operated by Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust ...

, during the reign of his paternal great-grandmother,

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

, as the third child and second son of

Prince William William, Prince of Wales (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982), is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales. William was born during the reign of his p ...

and

Catherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Ch ...

, then known as Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. His birth was marked by gun salutes and bell ringing. On 27 April, his name was announced as Louis Arthur Charles, honouring his paternal grandfather,

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, a ...

(later King Charles III), and his 3rd-great-uncle Louis, Earl Mountbatten of Burma. Louis was christened on 9 July by the

archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

Justin Welby Justin Portal Welby (born 6 January 1956) is an Anglican bishop who served as the 105th archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England from 2013 to 2025. After an 11-year career in the oil industry, Welby trained for ordination at St John ...

, in the

Chapel Royal A chapel royal is an establishment in the British and Canadian royal households serving the spiritual needs of the sovereign and the royal family. Historically, the chapel royal was a body of priests and singers that travelled with the monarc ...

St James's Palace St James's Palace is the most senior royal palace in London, England. The palace gives its name to the Court of St James's, which is the monarch's royal court, and is located in the City of Westminster. Although no longer the principal residence ...

Upbringing

Louis and his family lived at Kensington Palace and Anmer Hall during his early childhood. He made his

Trooping the Colour Trooping the Colour is a ceremonial event performed every year on Horse Guards Parade in London, United Kingdom, by regiments of Household Division, to celebrate the King's Official Birthday, official birthday of the British sovereign, though t ...

debut in 2019. Cambridge family at Trooping the Colour 2019 - 02

He started at Willcocks Nursery School near Kensington Palace in April 2021. The family relocated to Adelaide Cottage in Windsor Home Park in 2022, after which he started attending Lambrook, an independent preparatory school in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

, along with his older siblings, Prince George and Princess Charlotte. Louis also accompanied his siblings and parents for Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Elizabeth II died on 8 September 2022 and Louis's grandfather became king. Accordingly, Louis became fourth in line to the throne. He accompanied his parents and elder siblings to his grandfather's coronation on 6 May 2023.

Title and style

Louis is a

British prince Prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a royal title normally granted to sons and grandsons of reigning and past British monarchs, plus consorts of female monarchs (by letters patent). The title is granted by the ...

with the official

style Style, or styles may refer to: Film and television * ''Style'' (2001 film), a Hindi film starring Sharman Joshi, Riya Sen, Sahil Khan and Shilpi Mudgal * ''Style'' (2002 film), a Tamil drama film * ''Style'' (2004 film), a Burmese film * '' ...

and title "His Royal Highness Prince Louis of Wales". Before his father was created

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

on 9 September 2022, Louis was styled "His Royal Highness Prince Louis of Cambridge".

Succession

Louis is fourth in the

line of succession to the British throne Succession to the British throne is determined by descent, sex, legitimacy, and religion. Under common law, the Crown is inherited by a sovereign's children or by a childless sovereign's nearest Collateral descendant, collateral line. The Bil ...

, behind his father and two elder siblings, George and Charlotte. Following the implementation of the

Perth Agreement The Perth Agreement was made in Australia in 2011 by the prime ministers of what were then the sixteen states known as Commonwealth realms, all recognising Elizabeth II as their head of state. The document agreed that the governments of the real ...

, which replaced

male-preference primogeniture Primogeniture () is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit all or most of their parent's estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relat ...

with

absolute primogeniture Primogeniture () is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit all or most of their parent's estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relat ...

, he is the first British prince to be ranked behind an elder sister in the line of succession.

Notes

References

External links

Prince Louis
at the Royal Family website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Louis of Wales, Prince 2018 births Living people 21st-century British people Children of William, Prince of Wales House of Windsor Middleton family (British) Mountbatten-Windsor family People from London Royal children British princes Younger sons of dukes