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Prince William's gap-year adventures in Chile have seen him kayaking in ocean fjords, tracking one of the world's rarest creatures through the wilderness and teaching local children to do the Hokey Kokey. He has seen fabulous Patagonian scenery and visited remote villages unspoilt by tourism. He was even stranded for nearly a week on an isolated, rain-lashed beach.

Operation Raleigh

Prince William is travelling in Patagonia with Raleigh International. Since 1984, the charity has run 179 expeditions, with more than 21,500 volunteers from 80 nations. William's is the 29th expedition the charity has run in Chile, where it has had a base for more than 10 years. Of the 103 volunteers, 27 are on Raleigh's "at risk" youth development programme, which takes socially excluded young people who have been referred by social services and other agencies.

Adventure, environment and community

Prince William spent the first week meeting his fellow adventurers and learning practical skills. William said: "When we first arrived we had an induction week which was the basics of camping - how to put a tent up, how to tie knots in ropes, first aid, how to use a radio, things like that." The rest of the 10-week trip was split into three phases - adventure, environment and community - each lasting three weeks. William's adventure phase was sea kayaking along the Patagonian coast. For the prince's environment phase, he was in the Tamango National Reserve wildlife park tracking the rare huemul deer. In his third phase - community - William went to the small village of Tortel.

Stranded on a beach

During the adventure phase of his trip, Prince William was stranded on a beach for five days being battered by relentless gale force weather. The morale-busting week came at the start of the prince's 10-week Chile adventure when he was on a sea kayaking trip in Patagonia. It should have been a chance to explore the deep ocean fjords and archipelagos that nick the dramatic Patagonian coastline. But the bleak weather wiped out nearly a week of their three-week "adventure phase". William said they paddled for three hours to get to their first base. "The moment we got there, it started raining, and it didn't stop raining for five days. "We were stuck on the beach for five days. We couldn't get off because of the weather. There was a howling wind, I think force four or force five, and the waves were too big for the kayaks because we hadn't done enough practice and weren't that good. "It was literally non-stop. You go to bed, you wake up, it's still raining. We were all soaked through."

Watching deer

Prince William glimpsed one of the world's rarest creatures when he ventured to a remote region of Patagonia, in the environment stage of his trip. He was studying the threatened huemul, a species of deer whose numbers have fallen to fewer than 2,000. Working with biologists and a deer management expert, the Raleigh volunteers were radio-tracking the deer across rugged terrain in some of the remotest parts of the region. The data gathered will be used to improve scientists' understanding of the huemul and help Chile's national parks management body develop a conservation strategy. William said he saw three huemul in his first week, one of which needed no tracking at all because it came thundering straight through the camp, to the amazement of the prince and the 11 other volunteers. "We were sitting around when suddenly this huge buck huemul charged through the camp," he said. "A few minutes later, a few dogs followed on so we guessed it was being chased."

The middle of nowhere

During the community phase of his trip, Prince William stayed in the unspoilt village of Tortel. It has no cars or roads and, with 8,000 miles separating it from London, and is effectively a different world. Flanked by the snow-capped Andes on one side and Pacific Ocean fjords on the other, the settlement clings to the slope of a tree-covered hill at the mouth of the River Baker. It is situated in the heart of Chilean Patagonia, a region synonymous with remoteness and wild beauty, about 950 miles south of the capital Santiago.

Radio star

One of the jobs of the Raleigh volunteers in the village of Tortel was to renovate the local radio station. They had to sand down hundreds of overlapping octagonal wooden shingles covering Radio Tortel. The volunteers were re-treating it as one of the community projects to enhance the village. The gang cracked jokes and teased each other about being "work shy" for taking regular breaks from the humdrum work. "It's so tedious," William moaned. "Get on with it," said 19-year-old "Shaggy", nicknamed because of his appearance, and the prince carried on scrubbing the weathered panels with his wire brush with a light-hearted "Yes boss".

My name is William, and I am a wombat

Prince William taught English to Chilean schoolchildren in Tortel - but ran into trouble explaining the "W" of his own name. Standing before the class of 10 and 11-year-olds, he wrote his name on the whiteboard and then had to draw an animal starting with the same letter. Struggling to think of one, William came up with wombat and wrote in clear blue letters: "My name is William. I am a wombat." But when he came to draw a picture of the creature, the prince was stumped. "How do you draw a wombat?" he wondered out loud. The Chileans stared at him unable to help, perhaps because wombats - small brown marsupials - are native to Australia. "I could have been a wallaby," the prince muttered as he made a stab at sketching out his chosen creature, and produced a line drawing resembling a knobbly potato. "That," he said triumphantly, "is a wombat." He played patta-cake with a little girl and held hands with the children while they sang the Hokey Kokey and Old MacDonald Had A Farm.

Laid back and easy-going

Prince William's easy-going nature and plain hard work earned him the respect of his Raleigh peers, his expedition's leaders said. They say he settled comfortably into in the Raleigh philosophy, which is to treat everyone as equals. Marie Wright, Raleigh's project manager in Tortel, where William is spending the final part of his 10-week trip, said his star quality was that he was "one of the gang". She said the prince had been like any other volunteer, or "venturer". "He's really laid back and easy-going. He gets on well with absolutely everybody, whatever their backgrounds. He gets stuck in and has a good laugh," she said.

Prince William has been describing his adventures during his gap-year trip to Chile with Raleigh International. The 18-year-old Royal told of his experience as the first footage of his 10-week community and environmental project in Patagonia was released. The film, shot by ITN cameraman Eugene Campbell, gives an insight into Prince William's daily life while abroad and the work he has been doing. It shows him carrying out community work in a remote village during the latter part of the project - in which over 100 other volunteers are taking part - helping teach youngsters English and doing renovation and repair work. But Prince William's adventure got off to an inauspicious start as he and his companions were marooned on a beach by a storm for days during a kayaking trip. William had been exploring the deep ocean fjords that nick Patagonia's dramatic coastline when gale-force winds stranded them on a beach on the first day. The prince and his companions could do nothing but wait in their sodden tents as flood waters claimed more and more of the beach. William said: "The wind whipped up into a storm. The tents were flapping around so violently that we thought they were going to blow away. Everything was soaked through. "We were stuck on the beach for five days. We couldn't get off because of the weather. "If we'd stayed there any longer I think we would have been flooded. "It was quite demoralising, even though we managed to keep ourselves going by singing, and stuff like that. We played a few games. The thing was, I'd never seen rain like it. It was so heavy and it just didn't stop." The prince is on the second stage of his year out before university, and set off for Chile on October 1. He raised £5,500 in sponsorship and by organising a water polo match to pay for his trip, with his father, the Prince of Wales, matching the figure in a contribution to Raleigh's programme for disadvantaged young people. The charity aims to develop young people through a 10-week expedition during which they take part in adventure activities, an environmental assignment and community projects. After a week-long induction course to prepare them for living outdoors in harsh conditions, the volunteers, aged between 17 and 25, were split into nine groups of 11 or 12 and sent out across the region. As well as kayaking, he has tracked an endangered species of deer across the plains of Patagonia to assist in a scientific study. He camped in a three-person tent and sometimes slept in his sleeping bag in the open in the Tamango National Reserve for three weeks. He is now living in the remote coastal village of Tortel, which is only accessible by boat or plane. William has been entertaining local schoolchildren and teaching them English. The prince has revealed a natural talent for delighting the youngsters with japes and games, as well as brushing up his GCSE Spanish. With the other volunteers - or "venturers" - William is also helping the villagers build wooden walkways to link their homes, and construct an extension to the fire station. He has got to know the villagers well, dancing salsa with them into the small hours, and has enjoyed being treated as an "equal" by the other volunteers, with whom he sleeps side-by-side on the cold floor of a drab former nursery. Marie Wright, the 29-year-old project manager for Raleigh in Tortel, said: "He has earned the respect of the venturers and staff and is very well liked. "He's popular on his own merit. He gets on with the work, he's very humble and laid back and likes to be normal, and there's no reference to his background." Expedition leader Malcolm Sutherland added: "William is very popular. He's got a very personable approach to life and has been happy to get stuck into everything the group is doing, and is very much a leading force within the group. "His leadership has been excellent for someone his age." William said he decided to join an expedition with Raleigh International because he wanted to do something "different". "I didn't want to sit around and get a job or something back in London, I wanted to get out and see a bit of the world at the same time, as well as helping people, and I thought Raleigh was a good way of doing that, helping people who didn't have very much," he explained. "It was a good way of getting in with the locals and having a bit of contact with them, and at the same time meeting new people from different backgrounds. "I chose Chile because I had never been to South America before and I also wanted to go somewhere colder rather than hotter. There is Chile's scenery and some friends of mine had been here and they said how nice the Chileans were, and how friendly, so I thought why not come out and see how it is?" The prince added: "I did Raleigh not because I wanted to find myself or anything like that, but because it was different. I didn't really do it because I wanted to change myself. "I never thought I was going to like Raleigh and it's grown on me, doing the community work and all that. That's the one I really looked forward to."

PRINCE WILLIAM sensationally defended his late mum today in public against a treacherous former aide who has written a controversial new book about her private life. William stopped short of calling Princess Diana’s former private secretary Patrick Jephson a traitor, but his 25 carefully picked words made it quite clear that he held him in contempt and what he thought about his betrayal. The youngster, speaking on behalf of his 15 year old younger brother as well said: "Of course Harry and I are quite upset about it - that our mother’s trust has been betrayed and even now she is still being exploited." He spoke out just as a Sunday newspaper is preparing this weekend to publish the second extract of Mr Jephson’s book Shadows of a Princess. The Queen and Prince Charles have also issued a joint statement that they did not want the book published. But it is William’s words which will make it more uncomfortable for Mr Jephson, who worked for the Princess for almost nine years. Mr Jephson and his publisher had gambled that there would be no public statement from William - but the teenage heir to the throne was absolutely furious and was determined to make an unprecedented statement defending his mother. Extracts of his book appeared last weekend and Mr Jephson painted a picture of a cold manipulating woman, who plotted against her staff. It has already been blasted as a cruel character assassination of the Princess. The teenage Prince spoke out at his first ever press conference at his family home of Highgrove in Gloucestershire. As he launched his attack on Mr Jephson, Prince Charles proudly stood at his son’s side. His words came at the end of a photo call and press conference organised so he would reveal his future plans for his gap year. William, looking relaxed, confidant and casually dressed in a beige Thomas Burberry sweater, blue jeans and North Face trainers smiled as he joked with reporters. He revealed he is jetting off to Chile in South America on an outward bound adventure programme helping poor people in Patagonia. And he is taking with him a disadvantaged person from the Newcastle area - believed to be a teenage boy aged around the same age - to work alongside him on the project. He also revealed that he organised a sponsored polo match which helped him raise £5,500 so he could pay his own way on the trip. William said: "I am going off to Chile with Raleigh International where I shall be doing an expedition with them. "I wanted to do something constructive in my gap year. I thought it was a way of trying to help people out, and meeting a whole range of other people from different countries and at the same time helping people in remote areas of Chile." It will involve building roads and houses in a remote mountain region. He said he got the idea from talking with friends who told him it was a good idea. William occasionally stood with his hands in his back pocket and added: "I will be away for about 10 weeks but I am not sure of the exact details. "I am doing an environmental project, a community project and an adventure project." Then I asked him if he raised his own funds to cover the trip and if his dad had chipped in, he replied, "I raised £5,500." And when I pressed him on whether his father had helped William laughed and looking at his dad he added: "He might have helped slightly but not very much." Charles then said jokingly: "I am chipping in all the bloody time." Later it was revealed that William needed at least £3,500 to pay for himself and then sent £1,500 off to the Raleigh International at Risk Programme in the North East. This will enable someone on that programme to join William on the trip. And Charles it was later revealed matched his son’s £5,500 and sent off a cheque for a similar amount to the programme. The last royal to go on a Raleigh International expedition was Marina Mowatt, the daughter of Princess Alexandra, in the 80’s. He was then asked about his thoughts for the future. "I just want to enjoy my gap year and I hope that goes well and so far, thanks to all of you it has gone well. I am looking forward to going to university next year." William is due to start at St Andrews University in September 2001 where he will read History of Art. Then he burst out laughing again when he was asked if he would miss Prince Charles and Harry while he was away. Just as he was about to answer Charles playfully said: "Be careful in what you say." William replied: "I will miss them quite a bit. I will miss them a lot. "But I will only be away for 10 weeks and once I am out there I will probably be quite committed. I am going to dig in and make the most of what I am doing out there." He said he would obviously keep in touch with Charles while he was about. "I think I can use a computer out there and email my father from time to time when I come back in from being out and about in the mountains." As to his future plans he said: "The plans are not sorted and I am hugely disorganised. "The thing is the plan is not sorted out and once I have sorted it out you will probably find out." Then he was asked how the media have treated him. "They have been very good but I was a bit anxious how it was going to turn out. "But thanks to everyone it really has been brilliant. You have all left me alone from the beginning. "The whole of Eton made a big difference with everyone not trying to snap a picture every time I was walking down a street and I hope it just continues for Harry as well while he is there." William also briefly talked about his time in Belize a few weeks ago. "I was with the Welsh Guards on an exercise in the jungle, training with them as well seeing what they do." It was while he was in the jungle that he heard the results of his three A levels, which he passed. "I was in the middle of nowhere. The base camp where I was staying was at the top of a hill and the only way to get the A level results delivered was over the army net. "I got a message saying Dr Gailey (his housemaster at Eton)was waiting with a message. He said it was good news so I raced back up the hill to get the results." William also spoke of his recent trip to Mauritius from which he returned last weekend. "I was on this island called Rodrigues about 500km south east of Mauritius and basically I was on a Royal Geographical Society scheme called the Shores of Capricorn programme. "I was doing experience of marine conservation, learning how to sustain the reefs and the whole management of the sea around the fishing industry and going out with locals and learning how to fish."

By Chris Jones of the news profiles unit The handsome young Prince's blond locks could be turning to grey before he ascends the throne but, long before that, he is likely to become the foundation stone of the monarchy's public standing among its subjects. His decision to study at Scotland's oldest university, St Andrews, was an easy one to make for an 18-year-old aware that he can never live among the people, but intent on sharing at least some of their experiences. A generation ago, a committee of advisers had decided his father would attend Trinity College, Cambridge, even though Charles's subsequent A-level grades would not have earned him admission to the hallowed halls. But William had determined to go to Cambridge only if his grades merited a place, and he knew that was unlikely. But he still needed to satisfy St Andrews' requirements. And so, far away in the jungle of Belize, where he is on exercises with the Welsh Guards in the first stage of his gap year, the Prince will have felt the odd twinge of nervousness like thousands of others before his housemaster at Eton telephoned him with the glad tidings. And when the Prince arrives in the wide open spaces of Fife to start his four-year History of Art MA (Honours) course in the autumn of next year, he will be content in the knowledge that his three passes, an A.B and C, have earned him his place. Almost from the day he was born, tradition has not been ignored, but qualified. William Arthur Philip Louis Windsor was initially breastfed by a mother intent on bonding with her child. At Diana's insistence, the baby Prince went with her to Australia, where Brisbane subjected them to a sweltering 100 degrees in the shade. Unlike previous heirs to the throne, who were taught at home by private tutors in their early years, William's formal education began, at the age of three, at Mrs Mynor's Nursery School in Notting Hill Gate, West London. Aged eight, the Prince was sent to Ludgrove Preparatory School in Wokingham, Berkshire, where his bodyguard could not prevent an accident with a golf club that fractured William's skull. But Princess Diana insisted he should spend the weekends at home. At 13, he passed the Common Entrance exam and went to Eton, where he gained 12 GCSEs, excelled at a variety of sports, was secretary of the renowned Agricultural Club and received the Sword of Honour, the College's highest award for a first-year army cadet. So much for the CV. But how is William equipped to deal with the pressures that will arise in a life subjected to intense scrutiny? He has already endured, with dignity, some of the toughest experiences any life could encounter - the break-up of his parents' marriage and the sudden death of his mother in 1998. While he has apparently inherited his mother's milk of human kindness, his relationship with his father is also an affectionate one, notwithstanding William's frequent assertions of his independence. The pin-up Prince, with his love for club-life and designer-label clothes, may appear to be the essence of cool, lusted after by millions of teenage girls. But he also acknowledges Royal traditions, and is thought likely to serve part of his King's apprenticeship in a military uniform. The publishing director of Burke's Peerage, Harold Brooks-Baker, says despite William's star quality, the Queen could not abdicate, even if she wanted to, which means if Charles lives longer than his mother, he will be King. But he says William remains "the best bet for the Royal Family, even if the public have to wait more than 20 years to see him crowned".

PRINCE WILLIAM, who is on Army survival exercises deep in the Central American jungle, is considering a career in the Armed Forces when he leaves university. The teenager's surprise decision to spend time with the Welsh Guards in Belize is the clearest evidence so far that he may follow in the footsteps of his father, grandfather and two uncles, all of whom had military careers. A senior royal courtier said last night: "It is still very early on, but Prince William is definitely considering going into the Army. He loves the outdoor life." Prince Charles suggested the expedition with the Welsh Guards, which would be the regiment Prince William would almost certainly apply to join. He is spending the next four days in the jungle, sleeping in a hammock covered in mosquito netting, taking part in marches, as well as ambush and hand-to-hand combat exercises. The Prince will be invited to join in all the activities of his Welsh Guard companions, with the exception of live firing. "He won't be firing any weapons," an Army spokesman said. Although the Army jungle training programme in Belize is normally reserved for the military, an exception has been made for Prince William to give him a taste of the soldier's life. The temperature in the rain forest is 27C (80F) but the humidity, which makes the conditions so harsh, is 90 per cent. The fascination with the Armed Forces - Prince Charles and the Duke of York joined the Royal Navy when they had completed their education - has been encouraged by one of William's closest confidants. Mark Dyer, 34, who was a Captain in the Welsh Guards, has helped Prince William to devise his gap year programme. The officer, known as Captain Charming by the female staff at St James's Palace, was an equerry to the Prince of Wales, who regards him as an important sounding board over his son's future. Prince William, who was a member of the Combined Cadets Force at Eton, has also been influenced by the example of Prince Felipe, the 32-year-old heir to the Spanish throne, who combined his interest in yachting with serious academic study and a three-year stint in the Armed Services. The Prince of Wales has given discrete encouragement to his heir's military pretensions. Last year he took his sons to watch a mock Army attack on an airport, complete with exploding bombs, at Wattisham Airfield, Suffolk. Prince William, who has been accepted for a four-year history of art course at the University of St Andrews, is in communication with his father from Belize by mobile telephone and e-mail. The Army has kitted him out in combat uniform suitable for the heat and humidity of jungle life and he is having to live on "compo" rations, including boil-in-the-bag curry and stew. Marching through the rain forest can be an exhausting experience for anyone unused to exerting himself in such a dense and humid environment, but Prince William will be looked after as part of the Army's traditional "buddy-buddy" system, under which one soldier is teamed with another to ensure each other's safety in difficult environments. The Prince's uncle, the Earl of Wessex, faced some of the toughest conditions when he signed up for the Royal Marines, at the behest of his father, and carried out the legendary endurance course. The military life did not suit Prince Edward, who left the Marines and went to work for the Really Useful Theatre Company. At the end of his jungle experience, Prince William will be able to relax at the adventure training location at St George's Caye, a scattering of small islands off Belize, where the permanent detachment of about 20 British Army instructors provide scuba diving over the barrier reef, windsurfing and sailing. When the military stint is completed, Prince William will go on a private educational course. He will then spend time on his father's Duchy of Cornwall properties and visit Poundbury, the suburb of Dorchester designed according to the Prince of Wales's environmental principles.

STUDENTS eager to rub shoulders with the future King have deluged University of St Andrews with applications to study history of art (Gillian Harris writes). Admissions staff at the Scottish university said the number of students wishing to enrol for the 2001 course has rocketed since Prince William's decision was announced on Thursday. A spokesman declined to say how many of the applicants were female.

PRINCE William swung to the top of the royal brains tree yesterday as he exercised with troops the jungle. Wills had secretly joined Army manoeuvres in Belize when he heard he has passed three A-levels and won a place at Scotland's University of St Andrews. He said he was "delighted and relieved" by his results - an A grade in geography, a B in the history of art and a C in biology. Thrilled dad Charles, who got into Cambridge with just a B and a C, said: "I know how hard William worked to achieve these excellent results and I am very proud that he has done so well." The 18-year-old prince will start a four-year MA honours course in art history in 2001 after taking a "gap year" out. Wills flew to central America from Balmoral on Sunday to join the Welsh Guards on manoeuvres. He has been sleeping rough while learning jungle warfare tactics including navigation, river crossings, patrolling and survival techniques. Communications to the outside world is so poor that Wills was virtually the last member of his immediate family to hear his exam results. His Eton housemaster Dr Andrew Gailey stayed up until the early hours of yesterday trying to get a clear line to him. But Prince Charles managed to send an email to his son via an Army computer link. The jungles of Belize - covered by trees and swamps - are a far cry from chilly St Andrews. William is among 150 soldiers living in humid, basic conditions. At night, bed for some consists of a hammock between two trees covered with a mosquito net and a poncho. But generally it is nothing more than the jungle floor. Venomous snakes, tarantulas, black widow spiders and mosquitoes carrying the potentially fatal malaria virus live alongside wild boars, scorpions and monkeys. A year ago, a 27-year-old British soldier drowned in a crocodile-infested river in Belize while preparing for a similar training exercise. St James's Palace said it would be "an important piece of personal development" for William. He is expected to stay in Belize until the end of August, then spend several weeks on an "educational project" before returning to Britain.

He'll enjoy a hot time when he starts his studies in the auld, cold grey toon IT has at least two claims to fame - as the home of golf and one of Britain's coldest places. But St Andrews will offer pin-up Prince William female company to warm his heart after all-male Eton. When he enrols at St Andrews in October 2001, he'll find eight out of 10 of his fellow art history students are women. And extra-curricular fun is par for the course at Scotland's oldest university. Fourth-year theology student Kirsty Buchanan said last night: "Wherever he goes in St Andrews he'll love it. The prince is beautiful - I'll be looking out for him. But if Britney Spears can't get him, what chance have I?" Local lad Jamie Picken, 17, sighed: "It'll mean fewer girls for everyone else because they'll all be chasing him. But I think William has made a good choice and I'm sure he'll enjoy it here.It's a nice wee town and the university discos are great." He didn't mention the weather. Temperatures at the coastal town can plummet to minus 20C, and the normal daily temperature in January and February is freezing. One local said: "It can get really nasty. When the wind's blowing in off the North Sea the rain just hits you horizontal in the face. You see people getting clean swept off their feet.'' But Wills should soon acclimatise. St Anrews is famed as a place to party. At night the "auld grey toon" buzzes as celebs and students tumble into its pubs and restaurants. At the Victoria Cafe Bar - a favourite student haunt by day and night - 27-year-old assistant manager Alistair Rae chuckled: "I hope to serve him his first pint in St Andrews "Mind you, he'll have to pay for it like everyone else." "It's good news for St Andrews but I just think he would want to be treated like any other student." Alistair cheekily added that if William struggles to make ends meet he should knock on his door. "During term time 90 per cent of my staff are students so if he wanted a job I would try and fit him in somewhere," he smiled. After a heavy lunch Wills might fancy a bracing dose of fresh air with a stroll round St Andrews' medieval castle, perched above the sea and boasting an eerie bottle-neck dungeon. The water-loving Windsor could also indulge his passion by windsurfing from West Sands beach, one of only three in Scotland to win a Blue Flag and No1 with the surfing community. A night out with his uni chums would probably begin in Ogston's Cafe Bar, a massive open-plan town-centre pub. Assistant manager Mike Edwards, 25, said: "He would be more than welcome if he decided to pop in for a drink. We have had celebrities from the golf and film stars here including Samuel L Jackson, Emma Thompson and Andrew Colthard. "Although everyone's jaws drop, the place doesn't come to a standstill just because someone famous is here." The high number of pub meeting places in the town means many students get to know their future spouses over a tipple or two. But Wills, of course, will have more earnest things on his mind. He'll be expected to attend daily lectures and seminars on paintings, sculpture, architecture, graphic and applied art. Rather than just learning to appreciate art William will be expected to look critically at works, examining style, patronage and their social significance. He will also join other students on outings to galleries and monuments in Aberdeen, Dundee and Glasgow.

LONDON (Reuters) - Prince William will study at St Andrews, Scotland's oldest university, after taking a year off, his father's office said. The 18-year-old prince, son of heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana, will start a four-year course for a degree in art history in the autumn of 2001. "Prince William has been accepted to attend the university of his first choice, the University of St Andrews," St James's Palace said in a statement. "Prince William has now left the country for the first stage of his gap year." First stop is Belize in Central America, where the future king is joining exercises with the Welsh Guards -- in which his father is a colonel -- until the end of August. After that he will spend a few weeks on what the palace called an "educational project". The palace said details of the next part of the prince's year off would be released in late September, but it reminded the media to respect his privacy in keeping with the stern warning recently issued by the Press Complaints Commission. On Wednesday, the Daily Express newspaper said William would spend some of his time travelling in Australia. William had been awaiting the results of his school-leaving exams before picking his university. He got an A in geography, a B in history of art and a C in biology. "I know how hard William worked to achieve these excellent results and I am very proud that he has done so well," Prince Charles said in the statement. Tall, handsome and regal, William will undoubtedly turn heads when he joins the 5,000 students at St Andrews, set in the mediaeval seaside town an hour north of Edinburgh that is already famous as the home of golf. Steeped in tradition, the university's many private dinner parties afford it the reputation as a home away from home for London's young socialites. The prince can look forward to a social whirl that peaks at the annual May Ball put on by the all-male Kate Kennedy club, which was founded in honour of the first woman to attend the university.

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