• They're all pally at the palace
  
  Prince William's 21st is being seen as a chance for the divided royals to kiss and make up, reports Peter Fray.
  
  Suddenly, the House of Windsor appears to have become the House of Love. Camilla's back in the good books, Charles is finally happy with his new London digs and even the Spencer family, the vocal kin of the late Princess Diana, has been welcomed back to the fold - if only for one night. And putting a warm sheen over it all is William, the man-boy who will be king once his dad has had a shot. His 21st birthday later this month has delivered the royals the sort of positive public attention once generated by his doe-eyed mother, and opened the way for the Windsors and Spencers to bury the hatchet in a place other than each others' backs.
  
  Almost six years since Diana's brother, Charles, let the world in on the Windsor-Spencer feud, William has emerged as the family's potential peacemaker by inviting the Spencer clan, the Earl and his sisters, Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Lady Jane Fellowes, to his Out of Africa-themed birthday bash at Windsor Castle.
  
  Inviting your aunts and uncles to your 21st may seem nothing out of the ordinary for most normal families, but the Windsors and Spencers are not normal families. Aside from the Earl's famous Diana funeral blast, in which he pledged to protect the "souls" of William and his brother Harry from the burden of "duty and tradition", there has been constant sniping, most notably from Diana's mother, Frances Shand Kydd. She marked the fifth anniversary of her daughter's death last year by complaining about being shut out by Buckingham Palace from arrangements to bring Diana's body back from Paris. "It means that I never saw her when she had died," she said.
  
  But William - by all accounts, a sensible and sensitive lad - has emerged as the harbinger of a new start. "There's been a lot of hurt in his father's generation," said Dickie Arbiter, a former spokesman for both the Queen and the Waleses. "We learn by the sins of our fathers. In his [William's] position you can't bear grudges. Despite the circumstances, they [the Spencers] are still the family and the 21st is a milestone."
  
  For Camilla Parker Bowles, Charles's lover, the milestones are coming thick and fast. Not only will she be boogying at William's birthday. On Monday, she will be the focus of the media glare at a Westminster Abbey ceremony to mark the 50th anniversary of the Queen's coronation. She will sit with her father, the war veteran Major Bruce Shand, rather than Charles, but on Monday evening she is expected to play hostess to the Queen at Clarence House, Charles's new and refurbished London base, a far bigger pad than St James's Palace. Charles will give the Queen a tour of her mother's former home, which has cost taxpayers £4.5million ($11 million) to renovate. But it is unlikely Parker Bowles will be as bold to show the monarch her own set of freshly painted rooms in the house.
  
  Charles's people are tight-lipped about the precise living arrangements at Clarence House or relations between Camilla and the Windsors. "Mrs Parker Bowles is a private person," said a spokesman.
  
  But royal watchers detect a distinct defrosting between the Queen and Charles's unofficial consort, whose acceptance campaign has stalled with the recent departure of Charles's chief spinmeister, Mark Bolland. Without Bolland, who organised Camilla's stepping out with Charles at the Ritz Hotel four years ago, Parker Bowles has faded from view. But now she is back in her own right. While she attended several of last year's Queen's Jubilee events, her presence was not directly requested by the Queen. This appears to have changed with the Westminster invitations.
  
  "If the invitations are now coming from the Queen, that's a positive sign as far as the Charles and Camilla relationship is concerned," said Joe Little, the managing editor of Majesty magazine. "It's slow progress, but it's obviously happening."
  
  Whether or not this means that Camilla and Charles are closer to a quiet marriage - nipping off to a Scottish registry office, perhaps - is a matter of conjecture. Arbiter, who spent 12 years with the royals, said the idea of Camilla becoming the Princess of Wales would not find popular support. "It's a relationship that most people will accept as long as it does not go any further," he said. "Quite frankly, why do they need to get married? You can't have your cake and eat it. You can't say the royals have to modernise and then say they must get married."
  
  Indeed. The push for modernisation of the Windsors may be best left to William and his brother Harry. They are young, popular, good- looking and, despite concerns about Harry's love of a good time, still relatively untainted by scandal. William has another two years at university and then is likely to head for the army. After that he will be expected to become a full-time royal. The question is, will he be a royal Windsor or a royal Spencer
  
  
• James Whitaker Column
  
  WHEN you are rich and famous and as charming and good looking as Prince William, you can easily get away with displaying holes in your sweater. HRH beautifully demonstrated this yesterday when posing on the beach for his official 21st birthday pictures. This young man is one hell of a guy. We know it. So does he. His charm when he chooses to put it on, his "position" in life, let alone his matinee idol good looks guarantee William his place in history. Now we have read in his own words some of the aspects of life that are important to him. In fact, almost nothing is particularly revelatory. My recent two-part series on the man who will be king pre-empted what he had to say about himself. But there were snippets which are interesting to read. His admission that he is lazy. He is not kidding. His declaration that he's lousy at art. So unlike his father. William's confession that he is a rotten cook, a good chum to "real" friends and his love for water polo.
  
  What I liked most about his "interview" was his deep love for his father and his obvious adoration for his mother and her memory. Through Wills, Diana lives on. The prince has a love of dancing, a need for music, played loud, a passion for swimming, an easy ability to look stylish whatever he is wearing. Diana surely is smiling broadly from her celestial perch. What we don't get from William - and who can blame him? - is the whole truth. I know this because I have spoken to people who know him well. They love him but they know his flaws and they have talked about them to me. William, as all of us surely can understand, has been selective in his self-revelations.
  
  He tells us that he does not drink beer as "everybody thinks" but is a cider man. This is not how his pals view him. One told me he drinks "just about the lot". Whisky, gin, vodka, wine. William also says he does lots of shopping for food, adding about his university flatmates: "I cook quite regularly for them."
  
  This is not the story I have been hearing. Said one: "He virtually never eats in. He goes to restaurants almost every night."
  
  His favourite nosh, confirming what I have been told, is curry or pasta. William is a privileged young man with many obvious advantages over the rest of us. No worries about dosh or where he will live or whether he will ever be unable to pay his bills. There is, however, a large downside to his life. The certainty that he will never be able to enjoy complete privacy and that we will all expect more of him than he can ever reasonably deliver. I say - William, enjoy the good times while you may.
  
  

• William is a man among princes
  
  by ROBERT LACEY
  
  IT WOULD not be unthinkable to consider sitting next to him in a pub having a pint. The young man who emerges here appears remarkably happy and good-natured, with a sunny personality and, importantly, an ability to have a laugh.
  
  The story of his efforts to paint a picture of a house being misconstrued as modern art indicates a person with a refreshing and self-deprecating humour, who, in spite of the turbulence in his childhood, could be described as the model of normality. Consider his father at the same age when, in the course of interviews, he clearly carried a heavier burden of formality and the responsibility of being heir.
  
  That was partially a reflection of the times, but in William at the same age, we can perhaps identify regrets Charles might have about his own upbringing, which he does not want to be repeated in his son. Obviously, Prince William was on his best behaviour, but his answers are not curt; they expand on what he has been asked and they offer many points of illumination to his private self.
  
  It's very clear he has a good, solid relationship with his father. He applauds Prince Charles's "brilliance" at painting and reveals that when he was in crisis over whether or not to return to university after his first year, he spoke to his father about it. Prince Charles obviously had an important input to Prince William's decision to return. In the popular mind, it might have been thought that William appeared distant from his father. He gives every indication here that the opposite is true. At the time of his mother's death, his uncle, Lord Spencer, indicated that his nephews were going to be Spencers or Windsors.
  
  William emerges as a Windsor, but with a healing touch. He has said that he wants the Spencer side of the family to be at his 21st birthday celebration, the first time Spencers and Windsors have been together since the day his mother was buried. He is displaying the sensitivity of his mother. The effort to learn Swahili is amusing. During his gap year, he had a wonderful time in Africa. It is also endearing to hear how he speaks of those around him. St Andrews has been good to him, giving him the ability to analyse and think through what he says.
  
  He deftly side-stepped the student loans issue, but not in a way that was at all condescending. And it is touching that he believes the local people will be his "allies" when he leaves university and not co-operate with media attempts to dig up stories about his time at university. He shows that he a very media-savvy young man, and in those words, there is a plea to be left in peace until he has finished his degree. He also displays a great sense of having things in proportion, combining his unique position in life with being an ordinary student who likes R&B music shaking the walls of his house. Presumably, the drapes he speaks of are to deaden the noise and not disturb the neighbours. The truly illuminating thing is that he is revealed to be a normal young man. He can obviously have a laugh and he clearly has the same affinity with Scotland as many members of his family. The mention of the kilt and Scottish dancing is amusing. Here's a young man who will have a go and is not afraid to make a fool of himself with his arms windmilling during a Dashing White Sergeant. When he speaks of the "duty rota" with his housemates falling into chaos, it is the most crushingly ordinary student speaking.
  
  This is a young man who appears to be very much at ease with himself and given the stresses and strains of his position, that is remarkable.
  
  

• William swots up on Swahili with a new career in mind
  
  By Andrew Pierce
  
  PRINCE WILLIAM is to break with centuries of royal tradition by rejecting a career in the military in favour of environmental work in Africa when he leaves university. "I'm trying to teach myself Swahili, which is something that has proved a little harder than I thought," he said in an interview to mark the halfway point of his four-year degree course.
  
  "It's because of my love of Africa. It's an odd language to learn but I wanted to do something that was very specialised. I love the people of Africa and I'd like to know more about them — and to speak to them."
  
  The Prince, who has chosen "Out of Africa" as the theme for his 21st birthday party at Windsor Castle next month, went to Tanzania, Kenya and Botswana for three months during his gap year. Swahili is spoken in all three countries.
  
  He said: "I've got a book and a book-tape. Like I say, I'm teaching myself. I have them in my room and they're collecting dust quite rapidly, but I am trying to make progress." He might care to consult his 101-year-old great-great aunt, Princess Alice, who learnt the language during a year-long stay in Kenya. It was widely assumed that the Prince would follow in the footsteps of his father and uncles by going into the military. But, after the Earl of Wessex's short-lived career in the Royal Marines, Prince William is under no pressure from his father to take a commission at Sandhurst.
  
  Buckingham Palace and St James's Palace will be hoping for a positive public reaction to the interview and photographs of a clearly relaxed Prince in Scotland.
  
  In his interview, with the Press Association, he admitted that he almost quit university after one term, but was talked out of it by his father. "It's new surroundings, new scenery, and I wasn't quite sure what to expect. It's the same as starting school really and I was a little uneasy. I don't think I was homesick, I was more daunted, But I went home and talked to my father during the holidays and throughout that time debated about whether to come back — not seriously, seriously debating it — but it did cross my mind. My father was very understanding about it and realised I had the same problems as he probably had . . . we chatted a lot and in the end we both realised — I definitely realised — that I had to come back."
  
  The Prince said that he enjoys a hectic social life with a diverse group of friends and suffers little media harassment. He sometimes drives into Edinburgh to go to pubs, where he drinks cider. "I'm able to lead a near-normal life," he said. "The media have been very good considering how tantalising it is having me up here. It's probably because of the media's considerate attitude that I've been able to have such a good time." But he fears the worst when he leaves. "I'm slightly concerned that when I leave here the media could have a tendency to look into what I've done. If they do, I think the people of St Andrews will be my greatest allies."
  
  The Prince has avoided active involvement in student politics, but was aware of concerns about fees and loans. "I do listen to what goes on and I know there are sensitive issues. There are some students who have just cause to be worried about loans and fees, but most students here, as far as I know, don't get involved."
  
  In Scotland students who are registered as having homes north of the border pay £2,000 after they have graduated. If they live outside Scotland they have to pay £1,100 a year in advance. It is not known if Prince William is registered at Highgrove or one of the Royal Family's many Scottish residences. The Prince, who passed three A levels, conceded that he might switch courses if he does not secure good enough grades in his History of Art course. "History of Art and Geography are my two choices. I'm torn between the two."
  
  
• Prince Harry: The Rebel Royal?
  
  (CBS) Britain’s Prince William has been grabbing the headlines lately with his 21st birthday fast approaching and word of a possible move to New York making front-page news. But his 18-year-old brother Harry is starting to turn heads, too. On Tuesday, he was front and center, leading a parade at Eton, the exclusive prep school from which he'll graduate next month. He was chosen to be in charge of the annual tattoo of the school's Combined Cadet Forces at Eton, quite a big honor. But not long ago, the charming red-haired Harry, whose partying got out of control, was taken to a rehab center for a lesson on the dangers of smoking marijuana. So is Harry a rebel royal or is he respectable? Ingrid Seward, the editor in chief of "Majesty" magazine says he is a little bit of both.
  
  “He has that kind of wonderful royal manners. But he's a really bad boy, too, which is a nice mixture. It makes him more interesting. I say he is much more of a typical teenager than William is.” While he apparently plays on his royal status, Harry is not that interested in royal duties, Seward says. One of the biggest problems appears to be the large group of girls around him. “And I think he treats them slightly ruthlessly,” Seward says, noting that there is one pretty girl with whom he has been seen more than once. Let's hope that he treats her well. I mean, he's fun, he is a lot of fun and he knows how to party. So women like him. He's the bad boy.”
  
  Seward says it has been difficult for him to grow up in the shadow of Prince William, the heir to the British throne after their father, Prince Charles.
  
  “Everyone's attention was always on Prince William. And Harry was just, you know, left there sitting in a corner. So he thought, well I'm going to actually make people take notice of me,” says Seward. And unlike Prince William, Harry is more able to control his destiny. “He can be the playboy prince," Sewrad says. "He's much more in charge of his own destiny. He doesn't have the awful responsibility of the fact that he will one day be king, although, he'd very much like to be king. He's a great joker; he said to William, ‘If you don't want to be king, I will be.’” She notes the brothers have not always been close. “There's a lot of sibling rivalry. But at the moment, I think, they actually have quite a lot of fun together. So they are kind of close,” she says.
  
  Over the weekend, the tabloids reported that both Princes William and Harry would follow father their father into the army by enrolling as officer cadets at Sandhurst. An announcement from Prince William is expected next year. In other royal news, The New York Times published reports that the boys' grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, has invited Camilla Parker Bowles to the 50th anniversary of her coronation at Westminster Abbey, which is the most powerful sign yet of her growing warmth toward the divorced Parker Bowles. Camilla Parker Bowles is Prince Charles' long-time companion and was rumored to be the reason for the breakup of the marriage between Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana. Seward says, “The Queen is actually a really decent woman. She's always liked Camilla. And she doesn't see the point in pushing Camilla out when she, you know, she's a great help to her son. She is actually Prince Charles's rock.” This does not mean that Seward believe the couple will get married.
  
  “Why would Charles need to marry? He's got everything he wants without being married,” she says.
  
  
• How Harry Fell Into Line
  
  by Geoffrey Levy
  
  Every parent hauling a son through his teenage years will know the feeling. It's that emotional surge of optimism when the boy displays qualities at a school evening that are, shall we say, not much in evidence at home.
  
  So one can imagine the relief with which Prince Charles watched his son Harry faultlessly take Eton's 140-strong Combined Cadet Force through its annual tattoo on Tuesday evening. But today, that exhaustivelyrehearsed show of military precision is over. And for Harry's father the question remains: can the boy make something of himself? Charles is 'quite worried' about his 18-year-old son. Harry is not academically strong and is easily led astray, though sometimes he does the leading himself. He has experimented with drugs, he frequently drinks too much and can puff his way through a packet of cigarettes in an evening. He is also said to have been spending too much time with his hard-living friends both in London and Gloucestershire, when he could have been studying. Last month, at the height of his A-level revision, he was partying in Kensington until after 2am. And on Sunday he was prised away from the post-game revelry of a charity polo match at the Royal Berkshire polo club in Windsor at 10pm -- mercifully avoiding the naked, drunken cavorting of his friend Guy Pelly, who is 21 and, in fact, a bigger friend of Prince William.
  
  'Boys will be boys,' is the emollient view of Guy Pelly's father, John, a wealthy Kent landowner who also runs a car dealership. 'But Guy does go a bit over the top sometimes.' Yesterday, Pelly was, according to his father, 'lying low until things die down'. Having left Cirencester Agricultural College 18 months ago in the wake of the drugs affair that embroiled Harry -- and for which he quite wrongly took the blame as a 'ringleader' -- he is now at university doing exams. 'All that any of us can do with our children these days is keep our fingers crossed,' says Mr Pelly, whose son met the two princes in Gloucestershire and who describes them as 'good mates'.
  
  Prince Harry was back at Eton, where on Monday he sits his geography A-level. He originally intended to take three subjects, but some months ago decided to drop history of art and concentrate on the remaining geography and art. Two would be sufficient to get him into Sandhurst officer training college, where he could continue the royal tradition of military service and enjoy the sports at which he excels, especially polo.
  
  'It's all there, just waiting for him, and he loves the idea of being in the Army, and yet he's weak enough to risk it by being out when his head should be over his books,' says an exasperated royal aide. 'He's a very hard young man to manage and everyone's worried about him.'
  
  Few royal princes have presented so many contradictions at such an early age. Harry is both 'a very endearing kid' and yet boorish and royally arrogant -- more so among his peers than William. GIRLS inevitably swarm around him, yet he still goes out of his way to be the centre of attention; he exudes a devil-may- care persona, yet still feels a private emptiness over the loss of his mother, Princess Diana, whose death came just a few days short of his 13th birthday. One could endlessly speculate about what that loss has done to Harry and how, despite Charles's best efforts as a single parent, the absence of a mother's guiding and moderating presence has loosened his wilder side.
  
  Because he was so young, it has taken him years to get over her death.
  
  And how significant it was at this week's Eton Tattoo that his former nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke (now Pettifer), the bouncy young woman who nursed him through the worst period of his mourning and to whom he still turns for comfort and advice, was sitting among parents and friends in the front row, next to Charles.
  
  'Harry's immensely sweet and his trouble is basically a desire to fit in,' says a friend of the royal family. 'He's still basically a child, with nothing like the maturity at the same age as his brother. He has this absurd desire to show off all the time and entertain -- that's obviously part of the reason he did the tattoo so brilliantly. All eyes were on him, for a change, and not William. It was quite moving because I think we were seeing the real Harry for once, being himself, and not the foolish boy who goes out and gets drunk and does stupid things trying to fit in.'
  
  So was this the real Harry? There has been, of course, a successful attempt to 'rebrand' the prince following the drugs and under-age drinking episode in the Gloucester-shire pubs around Highgrove, where Harry still heads to meet his friends -- and girls -- at every opportunity. Then only 16, he took cannabis and drank wildly -- Prince Chares was alerted when a member of staff smelled cannabis at Highgrove after one of Harry's parties. WHAT emerged was that over a two-month period, Harry was said to have taken part in late-night drinking sessions at the Rattlebone Inn in nearby Sherston, Wiltshire, and smoked cannabis in a grubby outhouse at the back of the pub. These were often followed by parties in the Highgrove basement that Charles has given over to his sons for their private use. Angrily, Charles dispatched Harry to a rehabilitation centre so the youngster could see for himself the dangers of drug and alcohol addiction.
  
  What was said then, and indeed is still said, is that Harry was 'led astray' by falling in with the wrong crowd, and that this group included the older, and undeniably wild, Guy Pelly. But, in fact, at the crucial drugs period, Pelly was abroad and it soon became clear that far from tagging along, Harry was a leader of the pack. Pelly, who had been doing a land management course at Cirencester, shouldered the blame in silence in order to take as much of the heat out of the situation as possible for Harry. As Pelly's father said yesterday: 'Guy took the rap and we all kept quiet, and that was the right thing to do.' It was a gesture acknowledged as helpful in royal circles, which is why reports that Prince Charles is urging Harry not to see Guy are completely untrue and why, despite his drunken behaviour, Pelly is likely to continue to be a 'good mate' of William and Harry. But the drugs episode did shake Harry. It wasn't just the dressing- down he received from his father, but the public exposure which he knew had embarrassed and shamed the family.
  
  'He did go through a "poor me" routine over the attention he was getting for something that other teenagers do all the time, but the drugs thing did frighten him,' says a close figure. 'He could see what it meant to his father, and then he saw for himself where it could lead. He was really shaken by it.'
  
  He has not taken drugs since that dangerous episode, but one cannot make the same claim for drink, and for some time, his haunts have included watering holes in the King's Road area of Chelsea, where he regularly meets friends for nights out. Girls are playing an increasing role in his social life, too. He has been known to make the two-hour drive from Eton to the girls' school playing fields of St. Mary's in Calne, Wiltshire, on a Saturday in order to cheer on stockbroker's daughter Laura Gerard- Leigh playing lacrosse. But there have also been more casual -- and less romantic -- friendships with a number of girls, and the talk in the hunting and polo worlds of the West Country is that he is much more experienced with the opposite sex than William, who will be 21 next month.
  
  'He's very bold with girls, even boorish, especially when he's had a few drinks,' says one of his close circle, 'and the poor dears cluster round him. There's always a lot of rivalry for the attention of the royal princes, but William is much more cautious -- you would never see him stealing out of a tent at a hunt ball with a girl, as Harry has been seen doing.'
  
  At the same time, encouraging glimpses of maturity have emerged, particularly in Harry's genuine eagerness to take over some of the marvellous charity work left unfinished by his mother. He marked his 18th birthday last September by touring projects with which Princess Diana was associated, and made it known that he is keen to counter those negative memories of his mother, which continually emerge in intimate memoirs, by reminding people of the good work she did. He was particularly upset by the book written by her former police protection officer Ken Wharfe, which added intimate details to the affairs Diana had with James Hewitt and art dealer Oliver Hoare.
  
  Harry and William led calls for Wharfe to be stripped of his Royal Victorian Order, something which has not happened. Meanwhile, Harry keeps a foot planted in the Spencer camp more firmly than William by seeing his uncle Earl Spencer far more often. And perhaps we should not be surprised, in view of his tender age when his mother was killed, that he has not cultivated quite the same closeness with Mrs Camilla Parker Bowles as has William.
  
  'He likes her and gets on very well with her,' says a friend, 'and he is happy for his father not to be lonely. But one always has the feeling that whenever he sees Camilla with Charles, his mother flashes into his mind.'
  
  Now, though, it is A-level time, and it would be a terrible personal blow if his grades were insufficient to get him into Sandhurst and probably the Welsh Guards. His family are willing him to buckle down to his exams with the same grit and determination with which he assiduously practises his polo although, as one palace courtier observes: 'The tighter you try to hold him the looser he gets. But we know he can do it -- his tattoo performance proved that.'
  
  

• Who is the real Prince Harry?
  
  He marched out the very model of military perfection, a young man of confusing contrasts. As Prince Harry put the Eton College Combined Cadet Force through its paces last night, he was unrecognisable from the teenager who went out revelling on Sunday at a party that raised more than a few eyebrows. Then, instead of a sword in his hand, he carried a bottle of beer. And instead of impeccable dress uniform, he wore baseball cap, sloppy shirt and baggy slacks.
  
  Posing for a picture with Most Wanted rock singer Darren Hajul, Harry even appeared to try hiding a bottle behind his back. But it was his 21-year-old friend Guy Pelly, once accused of introducing him to cannabis, who caused most upset at the polo match and concert at the Royal Berkshire Polo Club, Windsor. He and another young man stripped to their boxer shorts and clambered to the top of a 40ft marquee while 2,000 guests partied inside. After climbing down, a laughing Pelly threw his underwear to the ground as friends congratulated him. Harry, despite drinking Pimm's cocktails and beer at the £350-a-ticket event, remained relatively sober.
  
  "Nobody could believe the way his friends were carrying on," said a reveller. "They had far too much to drink and should have been setting a far better example. Thankfully, Harry had left before things got really bad."
  
  In fact, the prince was driven away by his bodyguards around 10pm and returned to Eton, where he is in his final year and revising for A/S levels. And last night, as Cadet Officer HRH Prince Henry of Wales, in front of his proud father, he showed that for all those tales of hell-raising, he has a promising military future should he want it. As the most senior cadet in Eton's 140-strong volunteer Combined Cadet Force, it was his duty to take command of the annual tattoo - Eton's answer to Trooping the Colour - watched by hundreds of parents, pupils and Brigadier Jamie Balfour, the Army's Director of Infantry. With boots as shiny as a Royal Mews Bentley, and a bark worthy of any selfrespecting regimental sergeant major, he marched the entire "corps" on to the College Field parade ground. And, just like his forebear the Grand Old Duke of York, he marched them off again. Even the Heathrow flightpath could not drown his firm tenor tones. In addition, there were slick displays of unarmed combat, an ear-splitting artillery competition, and much marching with some first-class music. The spectacular, whizz-bang finale was an assault on a mock castle, with Harry leading a gallant defence and a real Scimitar tank from Windsor Castle leading the charge. This was a very youthful Royal Tournament - with a Royal right in the thick of it. It was also a remarkable achievement. Eton is the second-largest annual tattoo in Britain. Of those who volunteer for the CCF, few make it from cadet to sergeant. After much training, square-bashing and demanding field exercises, only one, the best of the batch, makes it to both Cadet Officer and Parade Commander.
  
  Harry will have had the added pleasure of surpassing his elder brother. While Prince William won the 1999 Sword of Honour as best new cadet, he never made it to the very top. It will, of course, only reinforce speculation that Harry is destined for a career in the Army. While his father, grandfather, great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather were all in the Royal Navy, no one is likely to mind. As of this morning, though, he must hang up his beret and knuckle down to some serious revision. Even princes and star cadets still need two A-levels if they want to go to Sandhurst.
  
  
• Battle royal: Wills vs Harry
  
  By SINEAD DESMOND Deputy Sun Woman Editor (Who’s a Wills girl)
  
  IT is a question taxing women everywhere: Which Prince do you find a charmer? For years William has been the one we all wanted — but now brother Harry’s wild streak is winning our hearts. So are you a Wills girl or a Harry girl?
  
  And as our photos yesterday of the party-mad Prince showed, Harry’s hellbent on being crowned the bad boy of Buckingham Palace. In the past Wills won hands down in the most fanciable Prince stakes. Perhaps that had a lot to do with the fact that Harry was simply too young to be considered eye candy. But since he turned 18 he has proved he likes to live dangerously — and that hasn’t gone unnoticed by British girls. Just three weeks ago a survey by teen mag Mizz revealed that, for the first time, Harry was considered more attractive than his big brother. But it is not just teenagers who have the hots for Harry. Last November he was voted the Most Dateable Stud Of The Year by society mag Tatler. And Harry wears the tag well. He walks with a swagger, has a cheeky glint in his eye and a mischievous grin. He has a rugged charm and girls love his trendy, ruffled haircut. His dalliance with drugs and fondness for booze and cigarettes contrasts with Wills’s anti-drugs, anti-smoking stance.
  
  And that is what the William/Harry argument boils down to — do bad boys make your heart beat faster ... or are you the kind of girl who goes weak at the knees for a good guy? William, of course, is the Royal Family’s golden boy, the apple of the Queen’s eye, it is said. In a movie he’d be the big-hearted action hero. Polo, skiing, football, rugby, you name it, he can play it. He’s the kind of guy who would carry you out of a burning building then go back in to save your family. Then for good measure he would go back to save your dog. Think Indiana Jones. On his year out he travelled to South America where he built bridges and taught local children English. But young Harry can be just as caring and confident. He has vowed to continue his mother’s charity work. And unlike William, who attended his public engagements with his father, bold Harry did them on his own. If Harry were in a movie he’d be the baddie all the girls fancied who turns out to have a big heart after all. Think Top Gun’s Iceman.
  
  Wills certainly looks the part, though. Strong and handsome, six-foot plus with tousled blond hair and blue eyes that you know you could trust. He has been linked with Arabella Musgrove. The daughter of a retired Army officer was said to be his first “serious” girlfriend. But the girl he sees most is Kate Middleton. He shares a flat with her and two other students in St Andrews. Friends are adamant the two are just pals but Kate seems to be the perfect companion for William: Attractive, sporty, fun and clever.
  
  As for Harry, the mates he was seen partying with at Windsor are nicknamed “the Glossy Posse” because they come from the Gloucestershire area. It is claimed that Harry is romantically linked with one of them, 18-year-old Laura Gerard-Leigh, daughter of a stockbroker. Laura is part of a set known as the “pashmina brigade”, who hang out in posh bars in London’s Kings Road. Even celebs are split over the boys. William has always had his share of star fans. Britney Spears, Myleene Klass and Christina Aguilera all had a crush on him.
  
  Emma Bunton wore a T-shirt with the slogan “Prince William is a fox”.
  
  When we spoke to Emma she said: “I still think Prince William is a fox but after hanging out with Harry at polo I’ve promised him next time I go out I’ll wear a shirt with his name on it!”
  
  Both Princes are equally sporty and intelligent but the decision on who you fancy comes down to more than that. Wills is the handsome prince who would never let a lady down, Harry is the Prince of cool who will no doubt break a lot of hearts. He is attracting trendy admirers too.
  
  Nadine Coyle from Girls Aloud chatted with Harry at a polo match and told us: “We’ve met Harry and he liked our record so I’m definitely a Harry girl!”
  
  So who does do it for you? Yes, Harry’s cute, but if you are going to fancy a prince you might as well fancy a real one who is dignified, handsome and decent. Not one who gets smashed with his mates at every opportunity — I can get that at home, thanks.
  
  

• Harry told: Dump pal Pelly
  
  By PAUL THOMPSON
  
  ANGRY Prince Charles has ordered son Harry to dump boozy best mate Guy Pelly. Charles is furious after The Sun revealed yesterday how Pelly shocked VIP guests by drunkenly stripping naked at a charity polo match. He telephoned Harry, 18, and insisted he stop seeing Pelly — the lad accused of introducing the young Prince to drugs. A Royal aide said last night: “Harry has been told he has to lose Pelly as a friend. His behaviour was totally unacceptable for someone who associates with the Prince. Charles understands Harry had nothing to do with what went on but Pelly is still his friend. He shouldn’t be in his circle any more.”
  
  Pelly, 21, and another pal of Harry’s stripped after an all-day drinking binge at the Windsor polo match. They climbed on top of a marquee hosting a VIP party before sliding down and running off. Harry had earlier been drinking with Pelly at the Royal Berkshire Polo Club, but was back at Eton before his mate ran wild. The Prince took a break from A-level revision to attend the match and a pop concert featuring Emma Bunton and Girls Aloud at the Royal Berkshire Club. Royal aides say Charles is particularly angry because Pelly misbehaved at a charity event in aid of The Prince’s Trust.
  
  One insider said: “Pelly is trouble and will only cause more problems for Harry.”
  
  Farmer’s son Pelly hit the headlines 16 months ago when he was accused of being responsible for introducing Harry to drugs and under-age drinking. But he remained firm friends with Harry and Wills and has often been a guest at Prince Charles’s Highgrove home and joined the Princes at England rugby matches. Pelly is from a wealthy land-owning family and grew up on a £2million home in Kent. Dad John said last night: “It was harmless fun. Boys will be boys.”
  
  
• Sir, yes Sir ... Harry barks out orders
  
  By PAUL THOMPSON
  
  ATTENSHUN! Prince Harry barks out orders as he leads cadets during Eton College’s military tattoo last night. Harry was commanding a 48-strong guard of honour which marched on to the college field.
  
  Among 500 parents and friends watching the parade was Prince Charles and his guest — Harry’s former nanny Tiggy Legge Bourke. Harry clutched a ceremonial sword as he accompanied Brigadier Jamie Balfour, director of Army Infantry, during an inspection of troops. Officer cadet Harry achieved one of Eton’s highest military accolades by being appointed parade commander. After the 20-minute parade he changed into combat fatigues to take part in a noisy mock battle. Harry’s face was streaked with green and brown camouflage paint. He fired blanks from a rifle as he led a squad defending a mock castle specially built in the college grounds.
  
  
• Prince Harry takes command of Eton parade
  
  Prince Harry has taken charge of a 48-strong parade of military cadets at Eton, fuelling speculation he may opt for a military career. Harry, 18, was appointed Commander of Eton's Combined Cadet Force's formal trooping of the colours. The Prince of Wales was among those looking on as his youngest son led the guard of honour's march out on to College Field with their colours at the yearly tattoo. As well as the parade and inspection of the Royal Guard, the hour-long tattoo also included a gun race, unarmed combat, RAF continuity displays, the corps band and a set-piece battle. Harry, ceremonial sword in hand, barked out the orders as he led his troops out to be inspected by Old Etonian Brigadier Jamie Balfour, former Commander of the British Armed Forces in Bosnia and now Director of Infantry. Prince Charles's guest for the evening was former Royal nanny Tiggy Pettifer, who was among about 500 guests including the boys' friends and family. After Harry and his troops retired to change from their berets and formal tunics into their battle gear, the crowd was treated to a noisy firing display by light artillery guns on loan from the Army. Music was provided by the Corps Band and The Pipes and Drums led by Major Jim Motherwell, the Queen's piper.
  
  
• Harry leads school military parade
  
  Harry is understood to be considering a military career Prince Harry has led a parade of 48 military cadets at his school, Eton. The move has already fuelled speculation that the 18-year-old, who is third in line to the British throne, may opt for a military career. Harry was parade commander for the annual tattoo of the school's Combined Cadet Force. The Prince of Wales was among those looking on as his youngest son led the guard of honour's march out on to College Field with their colours. Former Royal nanny Tiggy Pettifer was also among the 500 or so friends and families watching the evening parade. Barking orders, Harry led the boys out to be inspected by Old Etonian Brigadier Jamie Balfour, former Commander of the British Armed Forces in Bosnia and now Director of Infantry.
  
  BBC correspondent Nicholas Witchell, watching the parade, said: "It all went very smoothly, he seemed to do a good job. And of course it begs the question whether he is thinking about a career in the armed services. It would be in his family's mind that life in the army possibly would give his life the structure and the discipline which perhaps would be important for him. There is little doubt that he is thinking about the possibility of joining the army but officials stress he hasn't done his A-levels yet, he doesn't leave Eton until later this summer, and no decision about what he does then has been taken."
  
  The Cadet Corps, founded in 1860, is voluntary at Eton but only open to the sixth form. There are currently 140 members. As well as the parade and inspection, this year's hour-long tattoo included a gun race, a demonstration of unarmed combat and military music. Life in the army possibly would give his life the structure and the discipline which perhaps would be important for him .
  
  The finale was a staged pitched battle between the Eton Rifles and "evil paramilitary" forces - of which Harry was one - over control of a mock castle. The evening ended with awards, an address by Brigadier Balfour and finally the National Anthem. Prince Harry, who has experimented with drink and drugs, has also earned a reputation as an excellent sportsman. Several newspapers have reported recently that both Harry and his elder brother William are to continue the royal tradition of service in the armed forces. Their father and the Duke of York were both in the Royal Navy. The Earl of Wessex left the Royal Marines after training.
  
  
• Harry's drinking binge
  
  By PAUL THOMPSON
  
  PARTY-MAD Prince Harry broke off from his A-level studies to go on a binge with his pals. The session ended wildly with two of his drunken chums climbing on top of a VIP marquee and one stripping completely NAKED. The lad who bared all was farmer’s son Guy Pelly — the pal accused 16 months ago of introducing the prince to drugs.
  
  Harry, 18, had taken a break from Eton College — where he is taking exams — to attend a polo match and concert in Windsor. He sipped Pimms cocktails as he watched the celebrity game. Then he chatted with ex-Spice Girl Emma Bunton and pop stars Girls Aloud — who sang at the concert for his dad Charles’s charity, The Prince’s Trust. Clutching a beer bottle, baseball-capped Harry also posed for photos with Darren Hajul of rock band Most Wanted. But he quickly hid the bottle when he realised it was in view.
  
  Shortly before 10pm Harry was driven away by his bodyguards and returned to school. But his tipsy chums stayed on — and security staff watched in horror as Pelly and another lad, whom Harry had earlier hugged, ran riot at the £350-a-head bash. First Pelly, 20, stripped to his boxer shorts, egged on by pals. Then his friend took off his clothes, revealing a pair of mucky striped boxer shorts. Both then evaded guards to climb to the top of the marquee as 2,000 guests partied inside. After shinning down, boozy Pelly took off his shorts and cavorted with his mates — covering his privates with one hand. Finally, as security staff raced around the arena, he and his pal grabbed their clothes and fled.
  
  Revellers said Harry, who sat an AS Level Geography paper last Friday and will sit another A-level next Monday, clearly enjoyed himself at the bash.
  
  One said: “He was very cool and didn’t mind having his photo taken. When he realised his beer bottle could be seen, he hid it, but no one was fooled.”
  
  A Royal source confirmed Harry had been drinking but insisted he was NOT drunk.
  
  But a senior royal aide frowned on his chums’ antics, saying: “This is not the sort of thing Harry wants to be associated with. It was embarrassing. He was not involved but he knows it involves his friends.”
  
  
• Prince Harry and His Cousin Beatrice Step Out For Charity
  
  Prince Harry and his cousin Princess Beatrice stepped out for charity on Sunday, checking out acts ranging from Emma Bunton to Girls Aloud at a Prince's Trust concert at the Berkshire Polo Club. Eighteen-year-old Prince Harry, sporting a green baseball cap and navy pullover, was enjoying the scene with some pals, as was 14-year-old Beatrice. The two royals, however, proved they are typical teens: though just yards away from each other, Prince Harry stuck to his group of mates, while the daughter of Sarah, Duchess of York and Prince Andrew stayed close to her own younger circle of friends.
  
  Meanwhile, Prince Harry made a splash of his own with the sassy ladies of Girls Aloud, after meeting the Popstars; The Rivals winners after the performance. "He was lovely," said bandmember Nadine. "He said he watches us on TV all the time. He's roughly the same age as us so we had lots in common." The handsome teen also confessed he's a fan of the sexy fivesome. "I'm so flattered," said fellow Girls Aloud star Sarah. "He was very charming. It's a shame I've got a boyfriend – Prince Harry looks a lot taller and better-looking than on TV."
  
  
• African Queen at Wills' do
  
  By PAUL THOMPSON
  
  THE Queen is to wear an African fancy dress outfit for Prince William’s 21st birthday party, The Sun can reveal. Wills has told his guests to come to the bash dressed like Meryl Streep and Robert Redford in the film Out of Africa. Now the Queen has agreed to break with royal protocol and don a costume. And last night senior aides revealed she is happy to join in.
  
  One said: “The Queen has a great sense of humour and always enters into the spirit of things. She will challenge her dressers to find an appropriate outfit for the party.”
  
  Other senior Royals, including Prince Charles, the Duke of York and Earl of Wessex, will also wear fancy dress.
  
  A source said: “William was quite insistent that everyone should dress appropriately, even his grandmother. All the royals will be dressed as required. They don’t want to be out of place on Wills’ big night.”
  
  Parts of Windsor Castle will be transformed into African bush scenes next month when Wills hosts the party of the year. His 225 guests have been sent a gilt-edged invitation showing a charging elephant. The dress code states simply: “Out of Africa.” Guests can also come as Tarzan or other characters associated with Africa. Alternatively, she could go for a cotton dress or tweed hunting jacket. She could then wear one of her many pairs of jodhpurs, which were fashionable in colonial Africa in the 1920s.
  
  Plenty of William’s friends from school and university will mingle with Royals at the bash. Wills wanted to avoid a formal party to prevent the occasion being spoiled by stuffy relatives. It is thought he chose the Africa theme after enjoying a three-month visit there during his gap year. The choice also revealed his fun-loving streak — as he knew other Royals would HAVE to dress up to attend.
  
  

• PRINCE CHARMING
  
  By Stephanie Busari
  
  SPORTS-mad Prince Harry joined in the fun at his father's charity polo concert yesterday - but maybe he had other things on his mind? Harry, 18, who was with a group of friends, said: "I'm really looking forward to seeing Girls Aloud."
  
  Later he bumped into the pop stars told them they are his favourite group, especially band members Cheryl Tweedy and Sarah Harding.
  
  Sarah, 22, said: "I can't believe he's a fan. He has even watched us on Top of the Pops. I'm so flattered. He was very charming. It's a shame I've got a boyfriend he looks a lot taller and better-looking than on TV."
  
  The girls, formed from the TV show Popstars: The Rivals performed at the charity concert organised by the Prince's Trust at the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club.
  
  
• PRINCE IS ALOUD TO BE A FAN
  
  HE used to love the Spice Girls but now Prince Harry prefers Girls Aloud. Harry, 18, made the girls' day when he bumped into them at the Prince's Polo Concert in Windsor yesterday. The royal had earlier revealed: "I'm really looking forward to seeing Girls Aloud. My favourites are Cheryl Tweedy and Sarah Harding."
  
  Band member Sarah, 22, admitted: "I can't believe he's a fan. He was very charming. It's a shame I've got a boyfriend."
  
  Among the other acts on show were Liberty X and boy-band Most Wanted.
  
  
• Prince William & Harry enlisted for British army
  
  The princes William and Harry are to enlist as officer cadets at the army academy at Sandhurst, continuing a long tradition among British royals, the Sunday Times reported. According to the newspaper, both of Princes Charles' sons have begun looking for a regiment to sponsor their applications to the elite academy, located in Surrey south of London.
  
  William, who turns 21 next month, is currently studying in Scotland for an art history degree, which he should complete in 2005. Harry, 18, is finishing his schooling at Eton. Both princes showed a strong interest in cadets while at Eton, and earlier reports have earmarked Harry in particular as having the right temperament for a military career. Charles spent time in the Royal Navy, taking command of a minesweeper for a time, while his younger brother, Prince Andrew had a successful career as a naval helicopter pilot, seeing active service in the 1982 Falklands War and rising to the rank of commander. The youngest of the queen's sons, Prince Edward, had only a brief and unsuccessful career as a soldier in the Royal Marines.
  
  The Sunday Times said William intended to join the one-year Sandhurst course after completing his degree, and the timing of Harry's arrival would depend on his exam results and whether he went to university. An informed source told the newspaper the decision had not been imposed on the princes. He dismissed reports William wanted to work in a New York auction house or gallery. The Times suggested Harry, who has experimented with drink and drugs, would profit from avoiding the temptations of student life. Another factor is that the princes' privacy would be more secure in the military than in civilian life.
  
  
• WILLIAM ABANDONS STUDENT DIGS FOR A COUNTRY SANCTUARY
  Prince rents farmhouse to escape goldfish bowl
  
  Mike Merritt Exclusive
  
  PRINCE William is planning to quit his student digs in St Andrews for a retreat in the country. The student prince, 21 next month, has decided to move out of his townhouse and rent a cottage on the outskirts. But Royal observers say the move could signal a retreat from public life after years of living alongside other students in the Fife town. William is a common sight in the pubs and restaurants of St Andrews and was even photographed carrying home shopping from Tesco.
  
  But one source suggested the attention being paid to the prince in the run-up to his birthday on June 21 has forced a change of heart. The insider said: "He doesn't look for attention, doesn't want it, and, frankly, would run a mile from it if he could. It's disappointing he is moving from the town where he has lived a largely normal life, doing largely normal student things, to a more secluded existence. It was breath of fresh air to see him about the town. He seemed no different from any other young student and it is sad to see him go."
  
  The country-loving prince will move when he returns to St Andrews University after the summer. And Royal watchers are eagerly waiting to see if attractive housemate and close friend Kate Middleton will also move with the Prince. Kate, 20, a fellow student who hit the headlines by modelling in a university fashion show, has been romantically linked with William - although friends and Kate's family deny they are anything more than good pals. William also shares his home with two male friends - including fellow Etonian Fergus Boyd. But it is stunning Kate who features strongly in his social life. She is expected to attend his 21st birthday celebrations at Windsor Castle.
  
  A friend said: "She is everything William likes about a girl - bright, fun and very attractive."
  
  William's decision to move away was revealed by top Royal author Ingrid Seward, whose new book William and Harry is published tomorrow. She said: "He has rented a farmhouse cottage outside the town. It is on an estate and will give William the extra privacy he wants. "I think he always planned to move at the end of this year. His commitments to attend lectures at St Andrews will ease - though not the workload - and he can entertain friends more discreetly. Where he is at present is a bit like a goldfish bowl. He wants more privacy and is worried that when he turns 21 he will receive even more attention. He is a strong-minded lad but I understand the move has his father's blessing. Charles is glad William is enjoying university life. I do not know who will be sharing the cottage. But I expect it to be a different set of people. That's what most students do - change housemates at the end of term."
  
  William already has one country pad where he entertains friends. He is a frequent visitor at weekends to the Scottish retreat Tam- na-Ghar, a cottage on the Birkhall estate, Aberdeenshire, made available to him by the late Queen Mother. The move into his student pad last year was seen as saving the prince from quitting St Andrews after only one term. He felt so isolated from friends and family he asked his father to "get him out" of his history of art course.
  
  Prince Charles was sympathetic but told his son he would have to stick it out. His senior advisors at the time - Sir Stephen Lamport and Mark Bolland - had warned it would be disaster for the monarchy, particularly in Scotland, if William quit the town. The episode is now referred to among the Royals as "William's wobble".
  
  Part of his agreement to stay was on the condition he could move out of St Salvators hall of residence and into a townhouse with friends. Ms Seward said: "He enjoys university life. But he likes his privacy. That is why he is moving."
  
  William will broaden his degree when he finishes his exams this week. He will include other subjects as part of his four-year degree, with a greater emphasis on geography. William will learn his course results by June 13 but they will not be posted on a board or sent by letter for fear of them being leaked.
  
  A St Andrews University spokeswoman said: "Students will access their results on- line by using their own identification number. We believe the system is secure." The Candlemas term finishes at the end of May. It will be the end of William's second year at the top Scots university.
  
  An insider said: "He had to do history of art because the Queen has one of the biggest private art collections in the world and he will inherit it one day. But he wants to broaden his knowledge base."
  
  Ms Seward also claims that William's mother Diana wanted him to study in America at some stage. She met the Princess shortly before her death nearly six years ago. She said: "Diana told me she thought it would be good for him to do some business studies there. This had been carefully thought out by Diana. It was not a whim. A lot of European crown princes have gone to the States to study. She felt it would benefit William as a foundation for being a modern king." But William is expected to stay at St Andrews until 2004 when he finishes his degree. It is believed a move to America could happen then.
  
  
• WILLS CHOOSES DI'S FAVOURITE PHOTOGRAPHER
  
  PRINCESS DIANA'S favourite photographer Mario Testino has been commissioned to take Prince William's official 21st birthday portraits. Wills was impressed with Testino's relaxed approach when he took a series of informal shots of Prince Harry for his 18th birthday last year. The Peruvian-born fashion photographer is most famous for taking Diana's Vanity Fair cover shot five months before she died.
  
  A source said: "Mario has never let the Royal Family down. He has taken some fantastic pictures of Diana and Harry and was the obvious choice for the photographs."
  
  Testino also impressed Prince Charles with a picture of him feeding a chicken in the garden at Highgrove. And he has photographed the world's most glamorous women including Madonna, Nicole Kidman, Kate Moss and Catherine Deneuve. The best of his photographs are on show at Edinburgh's Dean Gallery. Testino, who also wants to photograph Diana's rival Camilla Parker Bowles, revealed some months ago that he hoped to be commissioned for William's 21st.
  
  
• PRINCE OF WHEELS BANNED! WORRIED Prince Charles has slammed the brakes on daredevil son William having a 160mph motorbike for his 21st birthday. Two-wheel fanatic Wills had set his heart on a 750cc monster bike worth £8,000 to mark his coming of age.
  
  But a royal insider revealed: "Prince Charles was initially keen to say Yes - until he learned of the speed and power involved. He then backtracked because he was terrified William could kill or injure himself in an accident."
  
  The Queen shared Charles's concerns and was quick to make her feelings known to her grandson. Wills passed his motorbike test a year ago and already owns a modest red Yamaha DT-125cc. Worth about £2,000, it can do 70mph - at a push. But under-21s are not allowed to ride the most powerful bikes.
  
  So with Wills due to come of age on June 21, he had been scouring motorbike magazines for a 750cc machine like a Suzuki GSXR which can go from 0-60mph in four seconds. But Charles is acutely sensitive to the dangers of speed after Princess Diana's fatal car crash in Paris in 1997.
  
  Our source said: "Motorcycling is one of William's favourite hobbies. He loves the freedom and anonymity it gives him - but feels silly wearing biker gear on a `learner's' machine. He had been counting the days till his 21st birthday when he can use more powerful bikes. William even suggested a compromise of using the 750cc bike just for off-road use. He's disappointed but appreciates his father's concern. He's determined to get his hands on a bigger motorbike one day."
  
  

• William reunites Windsors and Spencers - for one night only
  
  By Andrew Alderson
  
  The Royal Family and the Spencer family are to be united for the first time since their public rift at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales six years ago. Both families will attend Prince William's 21st birthday party at Windsor Castle next month.
  
  The Prince, who comes of age on June 21, is determined to hold an "inclusive" celebration which his father, the Prince of Wales, and his grandmother, the Queen, will attend along with Earl Spencer, his mother's brother, and his mother's two sisters. Prince William, who senior royal aides say has wisdom and common sense beyond his years, will be seen as a peacemaker. Palace officials hope that the party, on the evening of his birthday, will mark the end of years of private and, at times, open hostility between the two families.
  
  "Prince William has never fallen out with anybody and he wants all his close family and friends to be with him when he celebrates his birthday," a senior royal aide said. It had been widely assumed that the Spencers would host a separate birthday celebration for Prince William. Tensions between the Windsors and the Spencers began when the marriage of the Prince and Princess of Wales disintegrated in the 1980s. The ill feeling was exacerbated when Earl Spencer delivered his funeral tribute to his sister at Westminster Abbey in 1997 when he pledged that William and Harry's "blood family" would ensure the Princes would not be "immersed in duty and tradition".
  
  Only last week, the Earl made a veiled attack on the Royal Family in a BBC2 programme, Althorp: After Diana. "There are a lot of people who'd like Diana forgotten," he said. The Earl and Prince Charles are believed to have met just once since the funeral: they fleetingly recognised each other at a reception in Cape Town. There has been further friction between the two families over the collapsed Old Bailey theft trial of Paul Burrell, the former butler to Diana, Princess of Wales, who died in a car crash in Paris in 1997. For a long time, the Prince of Wales did not think that Mr Burrell should be prosecuted, whereas the Spencer family, particulary Lady Sarah McCorquodale, the Princess's sister, were in favour of charges. Prince Charles and the Queen were consulted over the guest list for the party, but it was ultimately down to Prince William, who is a studying for a degree in history of art at the University of St Andrews . The party has an "Out of Africa" theme.
  
  Camilla Parker Bowles, Prince Charles's companion, has been invited to the party and has accepted. In past years, the Queen has been reluctant to be at the same event as Mrs Parker Bowles.
  
  
• Duchy's new profits make Charles a property king
  
  The prince of Wales will unveil record profits for his 700-year-old estate after making a timely and prescient switch out of shares and into the property market. The Prince's new status as a "property king" will become apparent next month when he announces that the Duchy of Cornwall, the estate which gives the heir to the throne his income, has recorded profits of almost £10 million for the latest financial year. The figure is an increase of about 25 per cent on the year and comes at a time when many businesses have recorded annual falls in profit because of the economic downturn. The leap in profits has been caused by shrewd property investments by the Duchy coupled with tougher accountancy practices encouraged by Sir Michael Peat, the Queen's former treasurer, who took over as Prince Charles's private secretary almost a year ago.
  
  Poundbury, the "model village" near Dorchester, Dorset, that the Prince created 10 years ago, has proved not only innovative but profitable too. Originally, building land at Poundbury was sold at £40,000 an acre. It is now selling for more than £350,000 an acre. "Poundbury is a marvellous, integrated place - achieving the Prince's aim of being an urban area with a real sense of community - but it is also highly profitable," said one senior aide at St James's Palace. In recent years, Prince Charles has had a reputation for being extravagant. He was criticised recently for a £6 million refurbishment of Clarence House, the Queen Mother's former London home, which was paid for partly out of public funds and partly from his private income. Senior aides say that such criticism is unfair and that he should be praised for his astute business acumen. "This is not a man who owns a string of racehorses, a yacht, a football club or the like," said one senior Palace official.
  
  "The Prince of Wales has managed to practise what he preaches by turning the Duchy of Cornwall into a tremendously successful business while at the same time adhering to his basic principles of supporting a traditional way of life in rural communities."
  
  The Duchy, which was established in 1337, has more than 140,000 acres throughout the country and lets almost 250 farms and smallholdings. When Prince Charles took over the management of the estate in 1969, at the age of 21, its annual profit was less than £250,000. Over the past four years, the income and total worth of the Duchy of Cornwall have both increased by just over 50 per cent. The income has risen to almost early £10 million for 2002-3 from £6.4 million in 1998-9, while the capital values have increased to nearly £400 million for the latest year from £280 million in 1998-9. The Duchy's annual profits have risen because many new commercial and residential properties have been leased at favourable rates, while capital values have risen because property prices have increased.
  
  "The rural revenue, because of foot and mouth and other problems, has gone down but the investments on the commercial and residential property side have done exceptionally well. The Duchy is constantly on the lookout for good development opportunities around the country," said a senior royal aide. The acquisition by the Duchy three years ago of the Prudential Assurance's rural portfolio, which included 28,000 acres and 60 farms, for £50 million has also proved to be an astute move. The Prince chairs the council of the Duchy - the 13-strong committee which runs the estate and whose members include the Duke of Westminster, Britain's richest landowner - which decided that it would be wise to pull millions out of the stock market at the end of 2001 and early 2002, shortly before shares fell substantially in value. The reinvestment of this money has since helped to buoy the Duchy's profitability. By comparison, the Queen's revenue from the Duchy of Lancaster, the monarch's landed estate, totalled £7.69 million last year - a modest increase on the £7.32 million profit the previous year. Her investments in stocks and shares are never made public.
  
  The Duchy council hopes to make the estate even more profitable in the future, while Sir Michael wants the Prince's finances to be more "transparent". The details of how the Prince's household raises and spends its money will be published in full for the first time next month. Prince William, who will inherit the Duchy of Cornwall when he becomes the Prince of Wales, is also showing an increasing interest in the estate as he approaches his 21st birthday next month. He has attended a meeting of the Duchy council, and has visited Poundbury. The increased revenue from the Duchy will be spent on expanding the Prince of Wales's private office. This year the office is expected to increase from 80 to 90 full-time staff. New senior roles will include a private secretary, a financial director, a press officer, and three accountants and administrators. The expansion of staff under Sir Michael's stewardship of the Prince's private office will surprise many observers. When he worked for the Queen for 12 years he was known as the "Axeman" for trimming £50 million a year from the Queen's expenditure. He earned a reputation as a formidable cost-cutter who reportedly even persuaded members of the Royal Family to switch off the lights at Buckingham Palace before going to bed.
  
  

• KING? I DON'T EVEN WANT TO THINK ABOUT IT
  
  by James Whitaker
  
  IT IS true that Prince William very nearly quit his history of art course at St Andrews University in Scotland after just one term. Only not-so-gentle persuasion from his family, particularly his father, stopped him sensationally walking away. The crunch moment came just after Christmas 2001 while Wills was at Sandringham, enjoying his shooting, his privacy and all the cosy comforts of home life.
  
  Just before he was due back for his second term, the young Prince announced: "I don't want to go." The whole Windsor family was shocked. It suddenly all came pouring out. He was homesick, he felt he couldn't trust anybody at St Andrews, he was too far away from those he loved in Gloucestershire. He hadn't got a real mate on whom he could totally rely. The Prince delivered his bombshell remark: "I'm scared". Nobody understood better than Prince Charles. He'd been through it all himself when he suffered at Gordonstoun, his Scottish public school. But at least he'd had both parents alive. William, of course, did not. There was some fast talking. But it was done with love. Charles persuaded his son he had things out of proportion, that matters would settle down and that it was his duty to stick it out as he had a privileged place. William still demurred. Eventually Prince Charles took the ultimate paternal decision. He ordered William to go back. There was hesitation, but not for long. And now matters are much better.
  
  As he nears his 21st birthday on June 21, he lives in his own flat and even has girls living with him. He has a tight circle of friends who look after him and said the other day: "For the first time since I came here I can drop my guard and relax." He still remembers his first day when the media crowded in on him, including that television crew from Ardent, then run by his uncle Edward. "That day was horrible," he says. "I just felt sick with fear, like a baby. The unknown of what was to happen to me was frightening." To begin with, his social life was pathetic. Slowly, there's been a turnaround. He never lost his wariness, but he started to do normal things. He began visiting bars and pubs and venturing out to restaurants. In fact, he rarely eats in. His favourite nosh is pasta, curry but, most of all, pizza. He carries little money and leaves his father to pay his university fees and day-to-day expenses. Instead of carrying a credit card, he has a debit card so the money comes straight out of his NatWest account. The name on it reads William Wales. In keeping with all members of the Royal Family, William is as mean as sin. One who's been in his company on many occasions says: "He hates paying for anything. If there's a freebie going, he wants it. This isn't attractive but it's reality." We don't have to ask what he will do in the future. Eventually, when his grandmother dies, he'll become Prince of Wales (Charles will by then be king) and one day he will be the sovereign.
  
  But what would he do if he had the choice? "That's easy," I'm told. "Like a lot of rich young people, he'd do absolutely nothing at all." He knows - and accepts - he will be king, but doesn't like to think about this. He wants to put off the duties of royal life as long as possible. Do not be surprised if he stays a student - maybe doing a postgraduate course - until his late 20s. He could also enter the Army. His major dread about going out on the royal road is of being compared to his father. It burned William up the way his mother and father were presented as "rivals".
  
  He loves his Papa and doesn't want to be any sort of competitor.
  
  
• SEAT OF POWER
  
  PRINCE William does have one great passion in life. His motorbike. He drives around in a hard-topped Golf diesel car but his love is for the Kawasaki 125 he's had for some time now. He does use it on the road but he also goes scrambling on it.
  
  I'm told: "He does this moto-cross stuff which, of course, worries the life out of his father and the rest of us." He got his compulsory, basic training certificate (the first stage of the test) in April 2000. That allowed him to ride bikes up to 125cc on public roads but only with L plates. In January 2002 he passed the second stage of the motorbike test which allowed him to ride bikes up to 125cc without L plates. When he's 21 next month he's allowed to ride a much more powerful machine. His love for bikes is so great that everybody believes he'll trade up and that's when the worries will really kick in.
  
  
• BALMORAL IS OK
  
  BALMORAL is OK in William's book. As is Sandringham. Both estates allow him to indulge his passion for shooting. But he does miss, terribly, the sort of holidays that his mother once took him and Harry on.
  
  To Disneyland, to islands all over the Caribbean, to gin palaces in the South of France, to ranches in Wyoming, white-water rafting... in other words to all the places that "ordinary" kids go. He feels it's all very nice mixing with the family but not that much fun. When the Queen is around, it's fairly formal for even the grandchildren. Each morning, on meeting, the boys bow to her. Every now and again they'd love to go down market but, of course, not too far down.
  
  
• LACKING IN WILL POWER
  
  THOSE who know William best say he's incredibly lazy. He doesn't paint and refused to take painting lessons - "he couldn't be bothered" - while he plays sport only when it suits him. He doesn't read that much, and then usually light, slightly trashy material. Is he a handyman? "Are you kidding? And when it comes to culture, forget it.
  
  "He likes adventure holidays, things such as surfing and fooling around on water but he hasn't done any of this since Diana died. What he does enjoy is mooching around the family estates such as Sandringham, Balmoral and Highgrove. He needs constantly encouraging and being chivvied along."
  
  Ummh. So he's no Action Man as his father was. And no aesthete either.
  
  
• BERRY GOOD
  
  WILLIAM likes adventure films, real-life dramas, big war films and the James Bond movies like Die Another Day, starring Halle Berry. He also does read for fun, if not often enough. When it comes to literature, again he likes real-life adventure books and derring-do biographies such as that written by Sir Ranulph Fiennes. Other favourites are John le Carre books and all those written by Freddie Forsyth. What about Jeffrey Archer ? The message back to me was: "No comment."
  
  

• Princes get back Diana photos and letters taken by Burrell
  
  By Sally Pook, Becky Barrow and John Steele
  
  Personal possessions belonging to Princes William and Harry that were seized by police from the former butler of Diana, Princess of Wales, have been returned to them, it emerged yesterday. After lengthy legal negotiations, agreement has been reached on all but a handful of the hundreds of items which have been held by Scotland Yard since the butler, Paul Burrell, was arrested. Mr Burrell, who was acquitted of theft last year after his trial collapsed, is understood to have received only a few items, including handbags and dresses which he maintained were gifts to his wife Maria from the Princess. Most of the remaining items, which make up the majority of the 310 possessions seized by police, are understood to have been returned to the Spencer family home at Althorp. They are understood to include letters, personal photographs, silver and crockery.
  
  The Spencers did not wish to comment yesterday, but a source close to the family said: "They are obviously relieved that the matter has been resolved and these items are back in their rightful place."
  
  Three parties are believed to have been involved in the negotiations: Mr Burrell, who is understood to have asked to keep several dozen items; the Spencer family acting for Diana's estate; and the Royal Collection on behalf of the Queen. It is thought that there was little dispute about who should receive which possessions. Only about four or five items remain in dispute, including pieces of jewellery and sensitive video tapes in which the Princess reminisces about her childhood and in which she is said to discuss intimate details of her private life. The tapes were made by Peter Settelen, her former drama coach. Mr Burrell, who said after his arrest that he had wanted to "protect the memory" of the Princess, refused to comment yesterday. His agent said he would not be giving interviews.
  
  Among the items seized by police were letters from the Princess to Prince William, found in a bench seat at Mr Burrell's home. Some of the correspondence became known as "the Wombat cards" after the Princess's nickname for Prince William. Each was addressed to "My Darling Wombat". The letters would have been regarded by Prince William as "very precious, very important to him", said Clair Southwell, an assistant at St James's Palace who dealt with correspondence to the Princes. Other possessions which have been returned to the Princes are thought to include photographs and negatives and one of Prince William's schoolbooks. The Royal Collection is believed to have wanted a small number of items and the Spencer family wanted possessions including family photographs to go to Althorp.
  
  A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "Negotiations continue to establish ownership of a small number of items still in our possession. "If there is a dispute, the matter will be taken to the High Court to be resolved by civil action."
  
  

• Sgt Harry becomes officer
  
  PRINCE Harry tore off his sergeant’s stripes yesterday — after being promoted to the rank of officer cadet. Proud Harry, 18, beamed as he was presented with an officer’s pip on each shoulder at an Eton school parade.
  
  Officer cadet is the cadets’ highest rank — and comes after Harry rose rapidly to corporal last December then sergeant in February. Harry has already beaten stiff competition to be commander for Eton’s annual tattoo in ten days.
  
  He also has the Sword of Honour in his sights — awarded to Eton’s top cadet of the year.
  
  An Eton insider said: “Prince William won the Sword when he was at Eton — and Prince Harry is determined to try and follow in his footsteps. In many ways he’s a better cadet than William and if he did win there wouldn’t be an ounce of favouritism.”
  
  Speculation is growing that Harry will join the Welsh Guards instead of going to university.
  
  

• WILLIE THE WOMBAT IS AFRAID OF THE ZOO
  
  by James Whitaker
  
  TWENTY-ONE years ago on June 21, 1982 I was at the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital in Paddington when the first son of the Prince and Princess of Wales was born. If I remember right he weighed 7lbs one and a half ounces. Certainly he was a very welcome addition to the family. Prince Charles said at the time: "The birth of our son has given us both more pleasure than you can imagine. It has made me incredibly proud and somewhat amazed." Princess Diana was more circumspect. She said: "I feel he will be all right because he has been born to his royal role. He will get accustomed to it gradually." But has he? After following the twists and turns of this unique young man through three decades now, I have a horrible feeling that Prince William of Wales is not comfortable with his destiny. He is a heterosexual who loves the company of women - and has already been deeply in love once - but dare not speak their names for fear of ruining their lives and those of their families. More, he has a morbid fear that when he properly enters the public arena, as he has to one day, he will not only be compared to the way his mother was, and his father now is, but will be like an exhibit in a zoo. William believes the constant comparison of his father to his mother was horrific. He knows he will be King one day but, for the time being, he wants to shrink into his privileged background and forget the duties that lie ahead. While he's being educated - he's currently just finishing the second year of his course at St Andrews University in Scotland - he's "safe".
  
  Except for the occasional public appearance - he'll be undertaking a full day of engagements shortly to celebrate his coming-of-age - he remains reasonably anonymous. Today and next Saturday I intend to tell you something about the boy who will one day be our Sovereign. I've been speaking to people who know him well and believe, like me, that he can't stay in hiding for ever. The opinion of one of my main informants is that William should be draped in protective clothing. She's spent hours in his company and, unquestionably, adores him. I believe she would do anything to preserve his privacy. But she also revealed some fascinating insights into what Willie the Wombat is really like.
  
  My other main "contact" is less in awe of William. And therefore more objective in his assessment of how the boy has become a man. From him, I have learned of some princely warts. I'm not going to write lots of narrative, endlessly recalling what happened long ago, raking over coals that are now fading embers. Those of us who lived every tortuous moment of those terrible months and years during the 80s and 90s when the Waleses were tearing each other apart (let alone their children) don't need to go through all this yet again. The two columns I am devoting to Prince William, his brother Harry and, to a lesser degree, his father and Camilla Parker Bowles, will shed light on a man who would like to be normal but will never have the chance.
  
  
• DI'S GUARD OF HONOUR
  
  DOES the Prince blame anybody for his mother's death? You bet. He blames the press, the paparazzi in particular. He won't talk about Diana in any form with "outsiders" and, even with family, hardly at all. But beware! William has an overriding mission in life. To protect the memory of the Princess and everything good for which she stood. If anybody - and I do mean anybody - talks of Diana dismissively, he will strike. The perpetrator of unpleasant or clever-clogs comments might not feel William's rapier enter the rib cage but it will happen. As one who knows said to me this week: "Few things matter more to him than protecting his mother's memory. And guarding her from unfair treatment since she died.
  
  "He feels that if somebody attacks either himself, his brother or his father, they are alive and can fight back for themselves. But he feels passionately that as his mother is dead, she cannot defend herself and that it is therefore up to her closest family to do so on her behalf. He has said, in my presence, 'That's what Harry and I are going to do.'"
  
  Did Prince William and his mother love each other without reservation? Almost. But, in the way she did with everybody else, there was a falling out between them just weeks before Diana died.
  
  I am told: "There are stories that they'd had a row, that they were estranged in some way, that he was embarrassed by her very public behaviour with men and in particular with the person she was seeing at the time, Dodi." Can we be sure? Maybe not but I fear it is the truth. My friendly courtier says: "I understand that Prince Charles felt there was a problem between William and his mother but following her death the matter was too sensitive to raise and there's no point now."
  
  What is untrue is that Prince William and Prince Harry were dismissive or contemptuous of Dodi's father, Mohamed Al Fayed, when he entertained the boys and Diana on that final summer holiday at his home in St Tropez. The truth is that William did not believe Mohamed "used" his mother in any way and that he was never, as widely and erroneously reported, "hostile" towards his host in that summer of 1997. The Prince believes the Harrods boss was extremely generous and feels strongly that far too little consideration was given to the fact that he lost his son in that crash.
  
  
• ROMANCE? NO CHANCE
  
  RECENTLY there's been wild speculation about girlfriends. Why not? It'll always be this way. William has to be the ultimate "pull". He's got looks, manners, charm, sufficient dosh and more than one decent address. The Scottish Highlands are the favoured secret rendezvous. So is there anybody special in his heart? I'm told there has been - in fact he was said to be "deeply in love" with somebody a year or so ago (sorry, I don't know the name) - but in the end, says one who helped him pick up the pieces, "he just ran away".
  
  For the time being there is no Numero Uno. The other day he was romantically linked in a newspaper with the willowy, good- looking 5ft 11in Bryony Daniels, who's on the same St Andrews course as HRH. They both ruefully laughed at the suggestion and agreed the chance would be a fine thing. Falling in love with princes, as I witnessed time and again in the case of Prince Charles when he was a bachelor, is frequently a nightmare. The accompanying intrusion is almost impossible to withstand. Prince William, says his pal, does of course have girlfriends. But as she says, "any chance of the two developing a relationship, as other kids do, is nigh impossible." Says William: "Any girl would be mad to go out with me. I don't know what will happen in the end."
  
  Let me set one thing absolutely straight. Prince William has never met Britney Spears. So there have been no dates and no secret letters, as has been suggested. But William did fancy her and enjoyed her music. He even, briefly, had a poster of her in his room at Eton. Eventually, because of lies by the pop singer's agent, William officially distanced himself from Britney. He felt he'd been used by her and, yet again, felt let down. This is something he's had to put up with all his life and he feels there's worse to come.
  
  ALTHOUGH not as good as Prince Harry, who wants nothing more than to be a professional polo player, William is a sportsman and not a bad one at that. He likes all the traditional upper-class and royal pastimes of hunting, shooting and occasionally fishing but, additionally, enjoys water polo (at which he excelled at Eton) and is now part of the uni team. He also dabbles in golf and rugby. He's driven crazy by the fact that younger brat Harry is naturally so much better on the playing fields without apparently even having to try. He was a better go-karter as a child, he's a better shot, a more proficient rider to hounds, while on the polo fields he's near professional. Sickening or what, although, deep down, one gets the feeling William's quite proud of his kid brother.
  
  

• Keep off William, papers warned
  
  William is studying history of art The Press Complaints Commission chairman is warning newspaper editors to continue to leave Prince William alone after his 21st birthday next month.
  
  A 1995 agreement between St James's Palace and the press has seen newspapers exercise restraint in their coverage of Prince William and his younger brother Harry in return for controlled access on key occasions.
  
  And Sir Christopher Meyer, who took over as head of the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) in March, is insisting it continues until at least 2004, when William leaves St Andrews University, so he can enjoy a reasonably normal student life.
  
  He told BBC One's Breakfast With Frost programme the "very common sense and robust arrangement between editors and St James's Palace allows some access for them to Prince William, to know what is going on in his life and to take the odd photograph, in return for which we don't get a paparazzi feeding frenzy".
  
  In September Prince Edward apologised for breaching William's privacy "My message to the two sides is keep that understanding going because it is in both your interests." William needed to "finish his education at St Andrews in relative tranquillity so he can get his work done and get his degree," Sir Christopher told the programme. The PCC had "very very sharp teeth" and would use them "when the need arises", he added.
  
  William is in his second year at St Andrews, in Fife, where he is studying history of art. In March, St James's Palace told the PCC it took a "dim view" of the News of the World newspaper publishing photographs of William strolling down to his local pub, shopping at Tesco, riding his mountain bike and chatting to friends.
  
  OK! magazine was censured over snaps of William in Chile In September last year, the Palace condemned the "insensitivity" of a TV movie aired in the US which dramatised the years from the death of his mother, Princess Diana, to his arrival at St Andrew's. In 2001 Prince Edward promised to stop making TV programmes about royalty following controversy over his production company's filming of Prince William at university. A royal row blew up after staff from the company were discovered filming William, Edward's nephew, during his first few weeks at St Andrews.
  
  All other photographers and film-makers had by then left the town in line with a request from the Palace. The media has been warned to be sensitive over Prince Harry, 18 The celebrity magazine OK! was censured by the Press Complaints Commission in 2000, after it published unauthorised long-lens pictures of Prince William on a trip to Chile.
  
  The media has also been warned in the past about their treatment of William's younger brother Harry, now 18, after allegations of under-age drinking and drug-taking.
  
  
• Royal aides stopped Prince William from quitting St Andrews
  
  Prince William was initially so miserable at university that he was determined to leave after only one term. However, he was persuaded to stay on by his father for the sake of the monarchy and because it would have been a "personal disaster".
  
  Senior Palace officials have revealed that the Prince of Wales felt such sympathy towards his elder son over his unhappy start to student life that he asked his private office to devise a "strategy" that would enable William to withdraw from St Andrews University.
  
  Prince Charles's two most senior members of staff at the time, Sir Stephen Lamport and Mark Bolland, were, however, horrified by the prospect. They remonstrated with their employer that Prince William had to be persuaded to stay at St Andrews.
  
  "It would have been a personal disaster for William - he would have been seen as a quitter - and it would have been an even bigger disaster for the monarchy, particularly in Scotland," said a senior royal aide. St James's Palace acknowledged last year that Prince William, who is taking a four-year degree in history of art, had had a "wobble" during his first year in Fife. The full extent of his unhappiness and how close he came to leaving have emerged during inquiries by The Telegraph among Prince William's friends and senior royal officials for an article to mark his 21st birthday next month. The Queen and Prince Charles are hosting William's "coming of age" party at Windsor Castle on his birthday, June 21.
  
  Prince William spent much of his first term feeling lonely and isolated as he studied hundreds of miles from home. He was living at St Salvator's Hall, better known by students as "St Sally's".
  
  He confided to Prince Charles about his utter misery when he returned to Highgrove, his father's Gloucestershire estate, for the Christmas holidays 18 months ago. The Prince, who was 19 at the time, was relieved to be back home and decided that St Andrews, where he had been surprised by his heavy workload, was not for him. He felt it was too far from his father, his younger brother Harry and the close friends that he had made during his five years at Eton College.
  
  Prince Charles told his two most senior aides - Sir Stephen Lamport, his private secretary, and Mark Bolland, his deputy private secretary - to come up with a plan for William's departure that the media, and ultimately the public, would find acceptable.
  
  Both aides, who have since left the Royal Household for other jobs, felt that the request was a challenge too far. Sir Stephen, an experienced former diplomat, and Mr Bolland, Prince Charles's astute "spin doctor", feared a repeat of the debacle that surrounded the Earl of Wessex's decision to leave the Royal Marines. Many Palace officials consider the move damaged Prince Edward's public image irretrievably. Senior aides at St James's Palace feared that leaving St Andrews would be equally damaging to Prince William and would tarnish the monarchy north of the border. When Prince William chose St Andrews and arrived in the town much was made of the Royal Family's desire to build stronger ties with Scotland.
  
  St James's Palace officials concluded that an announcement that Prince William was leaving St Andrews after only four months would be taken as a snub by the Scottish people. On considering the issue further, Prince Charles decided that his two employees had a valid point. Early in the New Year of 2002, father and son had a heart-to-heart discussion about William's future. Eventually, the Prince of Wales persuaded his son to continue.
  
  On his return to Scotland, he settled quickly and now thrives on student life in the town of 18,000 people. He has enjoyed university life more in his second year when he has been sharing a flat with three fellow students.
  
  Prince William is now looking forward to two more years at St Andrews, although he is thinking of switching his degree from history of art, possibly to geography. As he approaches his 21st birthday, the Prince is emerging as a likeable, decisive young man who is already showing leadership skills.
  
  

• DIANA'S NIECE FIGHTS CANCER
  
  STUDENT Emily McCorquodale was diagnosed with cancer last month after falling ill.
  
  The 19-year-old is having radiotherapy treatment after doctors discovered several tumours close to her spine. They told Emily, a cousin of Princes William and Harry, she has plasma cytoma, a cancer so rare it has previously been found only in elderly people.
  
  Emily's parents - Lady Sarah McCorquodale, Princess Diana's older sister, and husband Neil - were said to be "devastated" at their daughter's illness.
  
  A spokesman for the family said last night: "It is a very difficult time for Emily and for all of them. But the whole family are pulling together and Emily's friends have been fantastically supportive."
  
  Prince Charles and his sons, who are friends of Emily's, have been told of her illness. Diana's brother Earl Spencer and his mother Mrs Frances Shand Kydd are helping to support the family. Emily has been receiving treatment at Nottingham Hospital - she had another session of radiotherapy yesterday afternoon. And doctors have not ruled out chemotherapy to try to tackle the cancer. The family's spirits have been buoyed by the reaction of their friends to the news. Dozens have sent cards and messages of support to their home near Grantham, Lincs.
  
  One friend said: "It is very difficult to make a prognosis because this kind of cancer is unheard of in women as young as Emily. They have received incredible support from everyone but there is no doubt this has been an awful year for the family."
  
  Emily, a student at Leeds Metropolitan University, was particularly close to Diana and attended her funeral in 1997. Diana doted on Emily and her brother George and would often spend weekends at the McCorquodales' farm.
  
  George became especially close to Prince Harry and joined him on an outing to watch their hero Damon Hill at a Grand Prix at Silverstone. Emily was a pupil at Princess Diana's old school, West Heath, near Sevenoaks, Kent. Diana's affection for the children grew out of "idolising" their mother when they were children. The sisters formed a strong bond when left in the care of nannies after their parents split up and their mother left home.
  
  In the book Diana: Her True Story In her Own Words, the princess said: "I idolised my eldest sister and I used to do all her washing when she came back from school. I packed her suitcase, ran her bath, made her bed - the whole lot. I did it all and I thought it was wonderful."
  
  Emily was 14 when Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997. She attended the funeral with her grandmother Mrs Shand Kydd, her parents and Diana's other sister Lady Jane Fellowes, whose husband Sir Robert is a former private secretary to the Queen. When she was six years old Emily was also a bridesmaid at the wedding of Earl Spencer to his first wife Victoria in 1989.
  
  After Diana's death Emily's mother Lady Sarah became a trustee of the Diana, Princess of Wales memorial fund, the charity set up with donations which flooded in from the public. She became involved in making difficult decisions surrounding the commercial use of her sister's name, including Diana's signature appearing on tubs of margarine. But it was her role as executor of Diana's multi-million pound estate that propelled the farmer's wife into the spotlight she had once shunned. First came a row about the division of gifts that Diana had left to her 17 godchildren, with Lady Sarah being accused by the parents of some of the youngsters of cheating them out of a larger inheritance.
  
  But last year the trial of Diana's former butler Paul Burrell put the Spencer family in the spotlight.
  
  Lady Sarah was a prosecution witness and had to answer questions about the gifts to Diana's godchildren and about the "rape tape" - alleged to have contained allegations made by former servant George Smith of a male rape in the royal household. Lady Sarah, whose godmother was the Queen Mother, was brought up with Diana at Althorp, the Spencer family home in Northamptonshire. After her marriage Diana often called on Lady Sarah to accompany her to public engagements and in March 1992 she took her to Budapest, Hungary.
  
  But an enduring image of Lady Sarah came in August 1997 when she accompanied Diana's body from Paris with the Prince of Wales and Lady Jane Fellowes. The two sisters were pictured at RAF Northolt. Lady Sarah was a girlfriend of Prince Charles before his wedding to Diana in 1981. She married husband Neil, a former Coldstream Guards officer, in May 1980.
  
  As well as Emily and George they have a 14-year-old daughter Celia. The children were left money in the will of the late Earl Spencer, Diana's father, when he died in 1992.
  
  

• Flash Harry's doing just fine
  
  CHEEKY Prince Harry has a new girlfriend – but that didn't stop him landing a kiss on a pretty pal at a polo match. The prince embraced the mystery brunette just days after embarking on a relationship with stunning blonde Laura Gerard-Leigh, 18. But Laura didn't need to worry, as the "other girl" is apparently just a mate.
  
  Prince Charles's youngest son, also 18, has known the stockbroker's daughter – his first serious girlfriend – for years, but they became romantically linked only last month. Last week they made their first public appearance, at the Badminton Horse Trials. Harry's growing affection for Laura was apparent as she rested her head on his arm. Laura is well known in Harry's social circle, nicknamed The Glossy Posse.
  
  They have many mutual friends, and Laura is a chum of Guy Pelly, the teenager who is believed to have introduced Harry to cannabis. Laura attends St Marys, a prestigious boarding school in Wiltshire, where, like Eton student Harry, she is studying for her A-levels.
  
  A source close to the couple said last night Harry and Laura had become "closer than just friends. They have an awful lot in common and share a boisterous sense of humour. He seems quite serious at this point."
  
  But Harry – who has been in trouble with his father and older brother William over drinking and smoking cannabis – still clearly enjoys the company of other girls. He loves nightclubs, where he is always surrounded by admirers. And photographs just released show him getting cosy with a mystery mate at a polo match at Cheltenham on Saturday. She turned up with other friends to watch Harry play for his school, Eton, against a team from Cirencester.
  
  The source added: "Laura makes secret trips to see Harry in Eton or Windsor. They've met up like that a number of times and he likes the fact that she can get away without any hassle."
  
  They are able to meet during term time because Laura is allowed to leave her school at weekends. She is said to be head-over-heels about the young Prince and visits him at Eton most weekends. He is allowed out in Eton or even into Windsor, but further astray and there would be trouble. Really, they have been restricted to romantic liaisons in that area. There are lots of quiet spots for them to meet.
  
  Like Harry, who is known to enjoy partying, Laura is incredibly sociable and likes going out in London. She is part of what is known as the pashmina brigade in Londons exclusive Chelsea area, where she hangs out at bars such as Crazy Larrys and Embargo on the Kings Road. Laura is also passionate about sport and often attends matches with Harry. Friends say Laura is Harrys most serious girlfriend to date. In the past he has been linked with Natalie Pinkham, the 24-year-old former lover of England rugby scrum half Matt Dawson. He bombarded the pretty brunette with text messages. Last year he also struck up a close friendship with Nicola Sturgis, a 20-year-old agricultural student who is one of the Princes polo-playing set. Harry, voted Britains most eligible bachelor by Harpers & Queen magazine last year, is said to have become romantically linked with Laura at the start of last month. But only a few weeks ago the Prince was seen surrounded by girls at a party in Kensington, West London.
  
  One source said: "You would never have guessed he had a girlfriend. He was the centre of attention and had all the girls hanging off his every word.
  
  Last night Laura's father John, 54, smiled when asked whether his daughter was dating the Prince, and insisted they were just good friends. Mr Gerard-Leigh is said to be very wealthy and once held six directorships of leading investment firms. The family own an old mill house in Wiltshire and a home in Parsons Green, West London.
  
  
• Harry and Laura So Close
  
  PRINCE Harry is getting “very close” to party-loving society beauty Laura Gerard-Leigh, it was claimed yesterday.
  
  A neighbour living near her parent’s £750,000 Georgian millhouse said: “They are seeing a lot of each other. He’s been here for a party and she goes to Eton to see him. But I wouldn’t like to say they are an item — I don’t know if it’s reached that stage yet. Laura is the youngest of three sisters, and they are all wonderful girls.”
  
  Laura has been chums with Harry, 18, for years. Romance blossomed last month.
  
  They were snapped last weekend at the Badminton Horse Trials, with Laura resting her head on his arm. A close friend said: “They have a lot in common.”
  
  Like Harry she also enjoys drinking and smoking and is a well-known party animal in the posh bars and clubs of Chelsea’s Kings Road.
  
  
• Prince Harry Is Winning Ways On and Off the Polo Fields
  
  Prince Harry has drawn comparisons with his polo-loving father after his team, Eton, emerged victorious from a match against Cirencester Park Polo club, despite the handicap of playing away from home.
  
  Pictures of the young Prince warming up were reminiscent of snaps of his father taken before a polo clash in Windsor last June. But the third in line to the throne also set tongues wagging by embracing a pretty spectator at the fixture. The mystery brunette is just a friend, however: Harry is said to be dating Laura Gerard-Leigh, a student at an exclusive girls' school in Wiltshire.
  
  Though they have known each other for years, Laura and Harry have only been romantically linked in recent months. The two 18-year-olds made their first public appearance together in April at the Badminton Horse Trials.
  
  Friends say they have a great deal in common and Laura, like Harry, is very sociable and charming with a boisterous sense of humour. She is also passionate about sport and attends Harry's polo matches whenever she can.
  
  Asked whether the two were indeed an item, Laura's father John smiled and said; "They're just good friends".
  
  
• Stamps and coins mark William's 21st
  
  The stamps sell from 17 June. For the first time a royal birthday is being celebrated with the issuing of commemorative stamps and coins, in honour of Prince William's 21st. More than 20 million of the stamps go on sale from 17 June, four days before his birthday.
  
  Each one features a different photograph taken in September 2001. They show the future king arriving at St Andrews University in Fife, visiting Anchor Mills in Paisley and at home in Highgrove, Gloucestershire.
  
  In addition, the Royal Mint is issuing its first coin carrying William's portrait, modelled by sculptor and artist David Cornell. The £5 coin will be on sale from his birthday until 30 September.
  
  The photographs date from 2001 It will also bear the prince's coat of arms and the words "HRH Prince William of Wales", with a portrait of the Queen on the other side. Royal Mint chief executive Gerald Sheehan told the Sunday Telegraph the high-quality coins would become much sought after by collectors.
  
  Gavin Macrae, of the Royal Mail, said: "We were delighted when the Palace agreed to a set of commemorative stamps. The striking images will have worldwide appeal."
  
  

May 11, 2003 -

• Wills' fury at paparazzi pic
  
  PRINCE William is “furious” after learning that a photo used on a stamp commemorating his 21st birthday was taken by one of Princess Diana’s paparazzi tormentors. Friends say he is shocked the Royal Mail made such a blunder. A photograph by Brendan Beirne has been reproduced on a 28p stamp to be issued next month. It is one of four commemorating William’s 21st birthday.
  
  A St James’s Palace spokesman said last night: ”It is very unfortunate this has happened.”
  
  The colour snap taken by award-winning Beirne shows William arriving for his first day of term at St Andrew’s University in Scotland. Beirne, 45, was at the event for international picture agency Corbis. But he is best known as one of the paparazzi who trailed Princess Diana around London in the 1990s. The Princess even went as far as to accuse Beirne of “harassment” after he was involved in an ugly street scuffle with her in the months before her death.
  
  A Palace aide said: “The Royal Mail should have made detailed checks. They must know how sensitive an issue photos are with William. He will be very unhappy but there is nothing we can do.”
  
  

• So who should William woo?
  
  It appears that rumours of the demise of the fairytale princess have been greatly exaggerated. This weekend, the Sun ran an article with the headline, "Is This William’s Queen of Hearts?" This exclusive speculated that Prince William "only had eyes for the girl beside him", his flatmate Kate Middleton. Despite the agreement forged between St James’s Palace, the Press Complaints Commission and newspapers not to pursue the prince while he was at university, it seemed inevitable that sooner or later these stories would start to appear. But the really low blow is that Wills’s potential Miss Right should be presented as a replacement for Diana, a woman whose own fairytale romance went badly awry.
  
  The idea that Prince William and Kate Middleton are romantically involved seems based on superficial evidence. As flatmates and second-year students at St Andrews University, the pair are often seen together. Their attendance at a recent rugby tournament prompted an unnamed source to comment: "Their body language was very revealing. They looked very close." In contrast, the father of Miss Middleton commented: "People do not seem to realise that there are two girls and two boys sharing the flat at the university. They are together all the time because they’re the best of pals - and yes, cameramen are going to get photos of them together. But there is nothing more to it than that. We are very amused at the thought of being in-laws to Prince William, but I don’t think it is going to happen."
  
  It’s clear the couple have much in common. Both are aged 20 and attended exclusive public schools; they share a love of sport and met while studying History of Art. But the Middleton family business, running a mail-order children’s party toys company, leaves them somewhat removed from the House of Windsor.
  
  Kate Middleton is not the first girl to be linked to Prince William. Unlike his father, William has been allowed to choose his own girlfriends without the palace using the power of veto. At St Andrews he has also been linked to a fellow student, Bryony Daniels, the daughter of a wealthy landowner. The response from Daniels’s family to these rumours was dismissive, her mother saying: "They naturally see a fair amount of each other because they are studying the same things." Casual romances have been reported with businessman’s daughter Emilia d’Erlanger, who joined William on a cruise, and he has enjoyed the company of Arabella Musgrave, a stalwart of the polo circuit set. Tongues wagged when six girls were among the party of student friends the prince invited to Wood Farm, near Sandringham, for the weekend.
  
  No-one could dispute that the heir to the throne would be quite a catch. He has inherited his mother’s good looks, and when he reaches 21 this summer he will be able to draw on a £2 million trust fund set up for him by the Queen Mother. At 25, he will get another £22 million trust. It is easy to visualise the kiss’n’tell dollies hanging out in the bars of St Andrews, hoping to snare themselves a prince.
  
  But, a few natural lapses notwithstanding, William has been a picture of restraint during his time as a student, enjoying a few drinks in Ma Bells and the Gin House in St Andrews and being a regular at K Bar in Soho and Jak’s in Lower Sloane Street in London. In Cotswold pubs and restaurants he mixes with the polo set where there’s no shortage of pretty girls vying for his attention.
  
  Parallels could be drawn with the summer of 1971, when a young Prince Charles was pictured chatting on the polo field with Camilla Shand. But for today’s young Royals, the rules of dating have changed. When Diana was first courted by Prince Charles, she was required to call him Sir, right up until their engagement. Prior to his relationship with Diana, Prince Charles played the field in full view of the press and the public eye.
  
  An oft-quoted memorandum from Charles’s great uncle, Earl Mountbatten, written in 1974 said: "I believe in a case like yours that a man should sow his wild oats and have as many affairs as possible before settling down. But, for a wife, he should chose a suitable and sweet-hearted girl before she meets anyone else she might fall for." Mountbatten told Time magazine that Charles was always "popping in and out of bed with girls". Before his hunt for a suitable wife began, the Prince of Wales was romantically linked to a string of well-connected women, including Lady Jane Wellesley, Davina Sheffield, Sarah Spencer and Anna Wallace. Some were seen as "suitable"; others, such as Buddhist Zoe Sallis, were not. Charles’s courtship with Diana Spencer was played out in the media almost like an informal interview, guaging her suitability for a place in the monarchy. The nation watched every stage unfold as if it was a soap opera. Diana passed the initial test, but in the end turned out to be unsuitable, like so many other royal matches.
  
  Edward VIII started the trend for falling in love with the wrong sort of girl when he married American divorcee Wallis Simpson. In recent decades Prince Andrew followed suit, first by falling for American Koo Stark, an actress who drew immediate comparisons to Simpson. Stark described it as "a relationship between two young people that was not dissimilar to any other love affair", but it soon turned to scandal after revelations that the actress had once starred in an erotic film.
  
  Making Sarah Ferguson his wife was equally unsuccessful for Prince Andrew, as the lively redhead found it difficult to settle into the routine of royal life. Princess Diana soon emerged as another woman who found the demands of protocol and etiquette too much. Harold Brookes-Baker, publishing director of Burke’s Peerage, has said: "In any group you have to conform to the group rules and if you don’t then you don’t stay in that network for very long. In general, the aristocracy are not as open as other sections of society; they also tend to abide by a different set of rules, which if you are not from that section of society can be terribly divisive." For Diana and Sarah, the fairytale implications of marrying a prince turned out to be strictly fiction.
  
  Today, the young Royals seem to be treading cautiously before committing themselves to marriage. Princess Anne’s children, at her insistence, do not have titles but they still rank high in social circles. Peter Phillips lived with American heiress Elizabeth Iorio for eight months and more recently had a four-month romance with air stewardess Tara Swain. His sister Zara and her live-in boyfriend, National Hunt jockey Richard Johnson, invited Hello! magazine to photograph their Cotswold home. Although the Phillips siblings are not subject to the same scrutiny as Prince William, the approach to their love lives seems unconstrained by protocol or parental pressure - the idea of "living in sin" would have been unthinkable a generation earlier.
  
  As the world’s most eligible bachelor, Prince William will have to find a method of dealing with the inevitible media scrutiny. According to royal biographer Ingrid Seward in her book, William and Harry, William’s favourite chat-up line is: "Hi, I’m the future king, wanna pull?" He might give it an ironic inflection, but with public confessions of admiration from students and even pop princess Britney Spears, it’s an invitation plenty of eligible young ladies would jump at.
  
  Having enjoyed a degree of privacy as a student at St Andrews, perhaps it’s not such a surprise that William has announced his intention to spend a few years living in the United States after he finishes his degree. Work in a gallery or auction house, and the possibility of a post-graduate degree, have apparently been discussed. Says a courtier: "William is determined to maintain a degree of anonymity and feels America offers him the best chance of that." This would be an unprecedented move. But William seems determined to forge his own path - he rarely undertakes royal duties and signs his cheques "William Wales".
  
  The chance of a relationship surviving seems to decrease in proportion to the amount of time a person spends in the public eye. At the age of 20, William still has plenty of time to find the girl of his dreams, but it’s no surprise that he craves anonymity and independence. Having seen every detail of his parents’ relationship photographed, analysed and commented on, it seems clear that when he does embark on a serious relationship, Prince William will strive to keep it under wraps.
  
  
• The Daily Mirror has lambasted its tabloid rivals for publishing pictures of Prince William in breach of an agreement to respect his privacy while he is still in full-time education. Three newspapers including the Mail on Sunday and the News of the World published paparazzi snapshots of the prince getting a foot massage from a female friend at a rugby tournament at St Andrews university, prompting a complaint yesterday from St James's Palace.
  
  In its leader column today, the Mirror declared that it had "scrupulously respected the privacy of Prince William while he has been at university. Belatedly the palace has complained. About time. If the rule is that William's privacy is to be protected until he finishes his education, everyone must abide by it."
  
  The Prince of Wales's private secretary, Sir Michael Peat, said the pictures of the student prince contravened informal agreements with the media to allow him to have as normal an education as possible.
  
  "I'm concerned that, if a paparazzi market for photographs and stories of William at St Andrews is encouraged, the resulting fear of constant press intrusion will seriously affect the way in which Prince William is able to live and study at university," he said.
  
  Sir Michael said he recognised that interest in the prince would increase in the run-up to his 21st birthday in June and that there would be access for the media to mark the event in line with the informal agreement.
  
  He said he hoped the system of press self-regulation would continue to operate. It is believed the palace will discuss the photographs with the editors concerned and the press complaints commission.
  
  Tabloid newspaper editors are becoming increasingly frustrated by the lack of official photographs of the the prince, which were promised as part of the agreement not to follow Prince William or Harry while they were in their full-time education. The News of the World editor, Andy Coulson, criticised St James's Palace for failing to keep its side of the bargain over access to the young princes when he gave evidence to a parliamentary inquiry into privacy and media intrusion in March. His complaint came just two days after the News of the World published unauthorised pictures of Prince William walking down a street in St Andrews carrying supermarket bags.
  
  It emerged last week that Prince William was expected to give his first interview to Peter Cox, the editor of the Glasgow-based Daily Record, to be pooled among all Scottish newspapers. The interview is likely to concentrate on his time as a student at St Andrews, where he is coming to the end of the second year of an art history degree, and his experiences of Scotland.
  
  

• It's trendy Prince Hatty
  
  PRINCE Harry chills out in his ripped jeans yesterday — and crowns his casual outfit with a wide-brimmed hat. The trendy Prince, 18, dressed down to avoid attention at the posh Badminton horse trials — held near dad Charles’s Gloucestershire estate.
  
  But his scruffy appearance was not enough to put off the fillies, and a mystery blonde seemed especially keen on cosying up to the royal rebel. One thing is for certain, though — Harry will be keeping her identity under his hat.
  
  

• Prince William Wants to Live in NYC
  
  Prince William wants to spend a few years in New York after finishing his university degree, a British newspaper reported Sunday.
  
  William, 20, wants to pursue a postgraduate degree at an American college or a job with a U.S. art auction house or gallery, The Sunday Mirror said.
  
  "William is determined to maintain a degree of anonymity and feels America offers him the best chance of that," a courtier at Buckingham Palace told the newspaper. "Various options are being discussed. It would be for a year or perhaps two."
  
  A spokesman for St. James' Palace did not deny the report but said no decisions about William's future have been made.
  
  "He has two years left at university. Anything about what he might do then is pure speculation," the spokesman said on customary condition of anonymity.
  
  
• Prince William 'wants to live in US'
  
  Prince William is considering a spell living in America once he finishes his degree, according to reports. The prince, currently studying art history at St Andrew's University in Scotland, is said to be thinking about further study in the US. Alternatively, he could be considering a job abroad.
  
  Reports in Sunday newspapers said the prince, who celebrates his 21st birthday next month, feels he has a better chance of living a normal life away from the Royal spotlight.
  
  While Prince Harry is said to be keen to follow the traditional Royal route of a career in the armed forces, William is not thought to be so keen. Newspapers have drawn parallels between William's desire to live in the US and his mother Diana, Princess of Wales' deep affection for the country.
  
  

• She's William's special K
  
  DEEP in conversation with a beautiful brunette, Prince William seemed oblivious to the drama of the rugby game being played in front of him. He had eyes only for the girl beside him — his flatmate and increasingly regular companion Kate Middleton.
  
  Walking together down the local high street, the story was the same. The pair seemed relaxed, happy and absorbed in a world of their own. Both scenes were played out in the sunshine of a Scottish spring day. And they have left many wondering whether pretty 20-year-old Kate has really become the queen of Wills’s heart. Kate, a fellow student at St Andrews University, cheered enthusiastically as Wills played in the rugby sevens tournament. And when he was not playing, the pair were lost in deep conversation on the sidelines, either lying side-by-side or standing close together.
  
  One on-looker said: “Their body language was very revealing. They looked very close. They seemed very intimate and I have no doubt they were together.”
  
  After the rugby, Wills and his team-mates headed to the bar for an after-match booze-up. One drinker told how Wills had a great time — and bought 40 shots for pals before he began looking queasy. A dozen teams took part in the rugger tournament, sponsored by The Gin House pub. Wills’s side, from a pub called the Westport Bar, were runners up, taking home three crates of lager. But despite the prince’s love of rugger, Kate seems to occupy an important place in his life.
  
  Wills has been linked to many beautiful young women, including businessman’s daughter Emilia d’Erlanger, who joined him on a cruise, and Arabella Musgrave, who is well-known on the polo circuit. But many reckon his relationship with Kate has moved on to a different level. It’s not hard to see why she might have caught his eye. Last April she strutted down the catwalk at a charity fashion show wearing just a transparent lace outfit over her underwear — and Wills was in the audience. The pair first met as fellow students on the History of Art course. And they kept bumping into each other as they lived in the same hall of residence. Once they got friendly, the pair had plenty to talk about. Like Wills, Kate has spent time enjoying the wonders of Chile.
  
  The couple are the same age, 20, and both attended exclusive public schools, Wills going to Eton and Kate to £15,000-a-year Marlborough College in Wiltshire. They also share a love of sport. At school, Kate was captain of the tennis team, a member of the hockey and netball teams, and a keen cross-country runner. William, meanwhile, adores rugby, soccer and polo.
  
  Like Wills, Kate is also an eldest child, having a sister, Pippa, 19, and a brother, James, 16. And despite their privileged backgrounds, both are also prepared to muck in. Wills cycles to university, shops at Safeway and cooks for his flatmates. And Kate has been happy to take work as a barmaid, serving Pimms for a posh catering firm.
  
  Owner Rory Laing praised her as a superb worker. He said: “I pay her only £5.25 an hour. But she’s pretty, so she takes plenty in tips.”
  
  During her leisure time, Kate is often found on the other side of the bar, drinking at popular Ma Bells pub with Wills. Like him, she was seen as shy in her younger days. But both have now come out of their shells. Kate even helped to found St Andrews’ first women-only club — to rival an elite university society that admits only men.
  
  A pal said: “She is very bubbly and gets involved in lots of activities. But she’s also very discreet about William.”
  
  Despite all they have in common, the pair come from different backgrounds. Kate was brought up in a prosperous middle class home. Her parents Carole, 48, and Michael, 54, run a mail-order children’s party toys business and live comfortably in the Berkshire village of Bucklebury.
  
  Wills and Kate get to enjoy plenty of time in private, as they share a £400-a-week Georgian flat along with two male chums. Kate was also among a group of friends who joined Wills at Wood Farm near Sandringham at the end of last year. Fellow students have suggested Kate already has a boyfriend but he has never materialised and could be a smokescreen to deflect attention from her royal connection. As well as forming a close new friendship at St Andrews, Wills has also shaken off his shy reputation and begun to revel in the party-packed fun of student life.
  
  When he arrived at university, Wills was seen as a quiet and dutiful prince, while young brother Harry was the rebel. Wills was on his best behaviour during his first days as a student and pointedly shunned the normal drunken debauchery of freshers’ week. He became a bit of an outsider and at one point even considered quitting the course because he was lonely. But the last year has seen Wills immerse himself in the joys of partying. In the small town of St Andrews he is often found drinking and chatting happily with pals in his favourite haunts — Ma Bells or The Gin House. And in London he is a regular at the K Bar in Soho and Jak’s in Lower Sloane Street.Last summer the newly- confident Wills even cavorted naked in a river with pals.
  
  One-time rebel Harry, meanwhile, has shed the reputation he gained for underage drinking and smoking cannabis. The prince, 18, has been chosen to be parade commander of Eton’s Combined Cadet Force. It is an important honour and is likely to be followed by a spell in the Forces. And he is also showing great talent on the polo field and could even take part in the 2004 World Cup in France.
  
  A royal insider quipped: “There are more concerns about William than Harry these days.”
  
  

• Prince William to give newspaper interview
  
  PRINCE William is to give his first newspaper interview as an adult at the end of this month. After lengthy negotiations with St James's Palace, the prince, who turns 21 later this year, is expected to speak to Peter Cox, the editor of the Daily Record.
  
  An agreement has been reached so that the interview will be pooled to all other Scottish newspapers. It follows a campaign by newspaper editors to gain greater access to the prince, who is currently studying for a four-year history of art degree at St Andrews University. The interview will focus on his time in the Fife town and his experience of Scotland, although other issues will be touched upon. Initially, it was reported that the prince, who started his degree in September 2001, found it hard work adjusting to life in St Andrews, where he has been the centre of constant attention.
  
  He often spent weekends away, at his father's Highgrove residence in Gloucestershire, or in Edinburgh, where a number of his friends are students. Mr Cox has met Colleen Harris, press secretary for the Prince of Wales, at least twice to discuss the interview, and expects to receive a full briefing from St James's Palace when he returns from holiday in a couple of weeks.
  
  However, yesterday a row broke out after Mr Cox said he would refuse to pool the interview with a rival newspaper. In an interview with the Press Gazette, a media industry magazine, Mr Cox said that the Daily Record's fellow Trinity Mirror title, the Daily Mirror, will not be included in the pool. Last night, however, a spokeswoman for St James's Palace said that the deal brokered with the Daily Record was on condition the interview will be pooled to every Scottish