Thursday, June 25, 1998

A prince among teens

When the gracious, gorgeous and estranged Princess Diana died last August, many Windsor-watchers believed the future of the British royal family died with her.

Wrong, roundhead Jacobin revolutionaries.

The royal family has a new and fast-rising star: Diana's oldest son, Prince William, the heir to the throne after his father, Prince Charles.

St. James Palace offered a brief glimpse into William's life on the occasion of his 16th birthday, which happened to come as Diana's brother and sister were squabbling over Diana's memorial charitable funds.

William is 6-1, blond, bright, athletic and has the same lowered head, sideways glance and smile of his mother. His younger brother, Henry, 13, the spare heir, is no slouch in those departments, either.

If the crowds of sobbing, screaming teen-age girls who mob his every public appearance have anything to say about it, the future of the monarchy is assured.