Prince William’s Personal Donation Almost Went Undetected Due to the Name He Used Instead of His Royal Title
The royal heir also left a kind message of support and signed off using his signature shorthand
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Prince William’s personal donation to support a Royal Marine almost slipped under the radar.
The Prince of Wales, 44, appeared to make a contribution to Royal Marine Dave “Dinger” Bell, who is raising funds to support armed forces charity Rock2Recovery by taking on the “longest ocean row of all time,” traveling solo over 14,500 nautical miles. According to the BBC, Bell completed his journey this week after 327 days on the water.
In the donations section of his SportsGiving page, there is a £5,000 (over $6,600) donation from “William Wales,” with royal heir using his royal title as his last name. The prince’s contribution on Oct. 5 also came with a message: “An extraordinary achievement. Huge congratulations to Dinger for completing this incredible challenge in support of a brilliant cause. Well done!”
Prince William signed off with a simple “W,” the same shorthand for his first name that he also often uses on social media to indicate that a note came directly from him.
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Bell later shared a message on social media, calling out the royal for his contribution.
“Thank you for all the donations. I’m recovering well,” he said. “I have a very, very special thank you to make to His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales, for a donation he made yesterday to Rock2Recovery. Thank you very much.”
This isn’t the first time that Prince William has used the name “William Wales” while making a quiet donation. In June, the BBC reported that the Prince of Wales donated £1,000 (about $1,323) to Semington Community Benefit Society as it raised money to reopen the Somerset Arms pub in Wiltshire. The pub has been closed since 2023, and the group reached out to William about their mission, suggesting that he could pull the first pint if they hit their target, The Times said.
While the last name of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip’s descendants is technically Mountbatten-Windsor, Wales is the last name that William has used for most of his life. William was called William Wales while in school and in the military, a name based on his father, King Charles, then being the Prince of Wales.
The tradition continues today. The King named his eldest son as the new Prince of Wales upon his accession to the throne in 2022, and William and Kate Middleton’s three kids — Prince George, 13, Princess Charlotte, 11, and Prince Louis, 8 — now use Wales as their last name.
