Royals Prince William at 40! See the Best Photo from Every Year of His Royal Life In honor of Prince William's milestone 40th birthday, check out photos of the royal heir from his birth to his status as a father of three By Stephanie Petit Stephanie Petit Stephanie Petit is a Royals Editor, Writer and Reporter at PEOPLE. People Editorial Guidelines and Erin Hill Erin Hill Twitter Senior News Editor, PEOPLE People Editorial Guidelines Published on June 21, 2022 07:14 AM Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos 01 of 41 1982 Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Prince Charles and Princess Diana on the day of their son Prince William's royal christening, which was held in the music room of Buckingham Palace on August 4, 1982. 02 of 41 1983 Princess Diana, Prince William and Prince Charles. David Levenson/Getty It was a royal first when Princess Diana and Prince Charles brought William with them on their royal tour Down Under. Here, they pose on the lawn of Government House in Auckland, New Zealand, on April 23, 1983. 03 of 41 1984 Prince William. Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty At just 2 years old, William gets familiar with the press in the garden at Kensington Palace for a photocall. 04 of 41 1985 Princess Diana and Prince William. Getty Princess Diana helps her son with a jigsaw puzzle in his playroom at home in Kensington Palace. 05 of 41 1986 Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Brothers Prince William (in a Dallas Cowboys T-shirt!) and Prince Harry play with their mother in the garden of Highgrove House in Gloucestershire, on July 18, 1986. 06 of 41 1987 Queen Mother, Princess Diana and Prince William. Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Prince William makes his carriage debut at Trooping the Colour just weeks ahead of his fifth birthday on June 13, 1987. He was accompanied by his mother Princess Diana and great-grandmother, the Queen Mother. 07 of 41 1988 Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Prince William took on the role of pageboy at the wedding of Camilla Dunne and the Hon. Rupert Soames. 08 of 41 1989 Princess Diana, Prince Charles, Prince Harry and Prince William. Shutterstock The family of four pose while on holiday in the Isles of Scilly. 09 of 41 1990 Jayne Fincher/Getty Princess Diana takes her sons William and Harry to Wetherby School in Notting Hill, London, in April 1990. Last year, William shared that his mother used to sing "at the top of her voice" while she drove them to school. 10 of 41 1991 Princess Diana, Prince William and Prince Charles during a visit to Cardiff in 1991. Globe Photos/ZUMAPRESS.com Princess Diana and Prince Charles accompany their son Prince William on his first official engagement in Cardiff, Wales. 11 of 41 1992 Prince William. Anwar Hussein/Getty Ten-year-old Prince William goes karting at Buckmore Park Playscape in Chatham, England, on August 01, 1992. 12 of 41 1993 Princess Diana Archive/Getty William walks alongside his mother Princess Diana to the Christmas Day church service at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk. "I have strong memories of walking down here, and my grandfather [Prince Philip], he used to walk so fast that there'd be huge gaps and spaces between all of us walking down, and there'd be us at the back with little legs trying to keep up. You know, I think, over time, you start to feel quite attached to those moments and those memories before," William recalled in 2021. 13 of 41 1994 Prince William, Princess Diana and Prince Harry. Getty Prince William and his younger brother Prince Harry accompany their mother on a sleigh during a skiing holiday in Lech, Austria. 14 of 41 1995 Tom Wargacki/WireImage Princess Diana, Prince Harry and Prince Charles pose with Prince William as they drop him off for his first day at Eton College. 15 of 41 Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Prince William walks alongside his bodyguard Christopher Tarr at the Eton Boys Tea Party at the Guards Polo Club. 16 of 41 1997 From left: Prince Philip, Prince William, Charles Spencer, Prince Harry and Prince Charles walk behind Princess Diana's casket at her 1997 funeral. JEFF J. MITCHELL/AFP/Getty Prince Philip, Prince William, Charles Spencer, Prince Harry and Prince Charles walk behind Princess Diana's casket during her funeral at Westminster Abbey on September 6, 1997. Hundreds of thousands of mourners lined the streets to watch the funeral procession following Diana's death following a car crash in Paris. 17 of 41 1998 UK Press via Getty Prince Charles, Prince Harry and Prince William attend the annual Christmas Day service in Sandringham. 18 of 41 1999 Julian Parker/UK Press via Getty Prince William, accompanied by his father Prince Charles and brother Prince Harry,, attends a photocall to celebrate his learing to drive. The then-17-year-old passed the test on his first try. 19 of 41 2000 Prince William, Prince Harry and Peter Phillips in 2000. FIONA HANSON/AFP via Getty Prince William, his brother Prince Harry and cousin Peter Phillips leave St. Mary Magdalene Church after Christmas Day church service in Sandringham. 20 of 41 2001 Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Prince William and Prince Harry applaud for their opponents after winning a polo match in Cloucestershire. 21 of 41 2002 Prince William. Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Prince William smiles after watching Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee parade, celebrating the monarch's 50 years on the throne. 22 of 41 2003 Prince Harry, Prince William and Queen Elizabeth. Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Queen Elizabeth laughs with her grandsons Prince William and Prince Harry on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after the Trooping the Colour parade. 23 of 41 2004 Prince William. Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Prince William examines a sheep at the organic farm on his father Prince Charles' Highgrove Estate. 24 of 41 2005 Prince Harry and Prince William in 2005. Andrew Parsons/PA Images via Getty Prince William and Prince Harry after the wedding ceremony of their father Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles. 25 of 41 2006 Prince William. Anwar Hussein/Getty A 24-year-old Prince William salutes after being commissioned as an officer in the British Army during the Sovereign's Parade at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst on December 15, 2006 in Surrey, England. 26 of 41 2007 Prince William. Tim Graham Picture Library/Getty Prince William sits in a cockpit trainer during a week he spent at RAF Cranwell, November 2007, in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, England. The prince was undertaking pre-training tests prior to the start of his attachment at RAF Cranwell where he will begin an intensive RAF course to learn how to fly. 27 of 41 2008 Prince William. Chris Jackson/Getty A rarely-seen bearded Prince William attends the Christmas Day church service at St. Mary's Church in Sandringham, England. 28 of 41 2009 Prince William and Prince Harry. Chris Jackson/Getty Prince William and Prince Harry pose in front of a Griffin helicopter during a photocall at RAF Shawbury on June 18, 2009 in Shawbury, England. Both princes were on their military helicopter training courses. 29 of 41 2010 Samir Hussein/WireImage Prince William and Kate Middleton officially announce their engagement at St. James's Palace on November 16, 2010 in London, England. The longtime couple became engaged during a holiday in Kenya. 30 of 41 2011 Prince William and Kate Middleton. Anwar Hussein/Getty Prince William and Kate Middleton leave Westminster Abbey following their royal wedding on April 29, 2011. 31 of 41 2012 Kate Middleton and Prince William. Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Kate and William celebrate an exciting moment during the London 2012 Olympic Games on August 2, 2012. 32 of 41 2013 Kate Middleton, Prince William and Prince George. BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty William and Kate introduce their first child, Prince George, to the world on the steps outside the Lindo Wing of St. Mary's Hospital in London on July 23, 2013. 33 of 41 2014 Kate Middleton, Prince George and Prince William. John Stillwell - WPA Pool/Getty Kate and William bring their son George to a butterfly exhibit at the Natural History Museum on July 2, 2014 in London. The family released the photo ahead of Prince George's first birthday on July 22. 34 of 41 2015 Kate Middleton, Prince William and Princess Charlotte. Samir Hussein/WireImage William and Kate smile for the cameras as they leave the hospital following the birth of their daughter Princess Charlotte on May 2, 2015 in London. 35 of 41 2016 Prince William, Kate Middleton and Prince Harry. Nicky J Sims/Getty Prince William, Kate Middleton and Prince Harry introduce their new campaign called Heads Together in partnership with inspiring charities, which aims to change the national conversation on mental wellbeing. 36 of 41 2017 Kate Middleton, Prince William and Prince Harry. ALASTAIR GRANT/POOL/AFP via Getty Kate, William and Harry take part in a relay race during a training event to promote their charity Heads Together, at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London, on February 5, 2017. 37 of 41 2018 Dominic Lipinski - WPA Pool/Getty Princess Charlotte and Prince George hold Prince William's hands as the family arrives at the Chapel Royal in St. James's Palace for the christening of their brother, Prince Louis, who is being carried by Kate on July 09, 2018. Prince Harry and his new wife Meghan Markle follow behind the family of five. 38 of 41 2019 Queen Elizabeth, Prince William and Kate Middleton at the 2019 Chelsea Flower Show. GEOFF PUGH/AFP via Getty William and Kate attend the 2019 Chelsea Flower Show alongside Queen Elizabeth. 39 of 41 2020 The Cambridge family shares a new photo of William with his three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, ahead of the Duke of Cambridge's 38th birthday. 40 of 41 2021 Kate Middleton and Prince William at the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Chris Jackson/Getty Prince William and Kate Middleton arrive to host the NHS Charities Together and NHS staff at a unique drive-in cinema to watch a special screening of Disney's Cruella at the Palace of Holyroodhouse during their tour in Scotland on May 26, 2021. 41 of 41 2022 Prince William, Kate Middleton, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis joined Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles on the Buckingham Palace balcony on June 5. Samir Hussein/WireImage Prince William, Kate Middleton, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis join Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles on the Buckingham Palace balcony on June 5 for the monarch's Platinum Jubilee celebration.