The Life Of ‘The Other Prince William’, A Tale Of Forbidden Love And Tragedy

Many of us may never have even heard the name Prince William of Gloucester before. Yet at the time of his birth, this son of the House of Windsor was no less than fourth in line to the British throne. He sat behind his cousins, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, and then his father, Prince Henry.

Prince William's demise was under heartbreaking circumstances, no less because the royal was only 30 years old at the time. In a family known for their longevity, William's death came as a huge shock. And yet during his earlier years, he was far from a tragic figure. The prince was athletic, passionate, and loving. His short life was full of adventure and romance.

William was born in Hertfordshire, England, in December 1941, while World War II was raging. William’s father — Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester — was unable to be at his son’s birth due to his wartime duties. Needless to say, it was a chaotic time for the royals.

Prince William’s baptism was certainly an occasion befitting a royal baby. His mom, after all, was Princess Alice, the Duchess of Gloucester, while his godfather that day was no less than King George VI. Queen Mary, the widow of King George V, was his godmother. The event brought together a who’s who of eminent British royals at that time, despite the war.

Fortunately, Prince Henry lived to meet his son, and the pair went on to forge a close relationship. Although William grew up among the terror of war, he was also part of some of the most important days in British history. For William, the most notable event of his early life came in 1947.

Six years later, a tragic event — the unexpected death of his uncle and godfather, King George VI — once again gave William a front-row seat to history. He watched up close as Princess Elizabeth was crowned Queen Elizabeth II. As the new monarch’s first cousin, William was a bona fide royal.

Don't be fooled by his privileged upbringing, however; William was as bright as his fellow college students. At school William proved himself to be a capable student and sportsman, and he would remain so for the rest of his life. When he finished school, William was accepted into Cambridge University, where he studied history.

Upon finishing his education, William joined a merchant bank. Perhaps his time spent at Stanford, where he studied business and political science, was what made him take the job at the bank. But William wasn't one to stay in one place for very long.

Just before William traveled to Japan to take up his post as second secretary in the commercial department, the prince decided to check in with a doctor. For some time, William’s skin had been turning yellow, a sign he was suffering from jaundice — caused by what, though, he wasn’t sure.

There were all kinds of explanations for the prince's yellow skin, such as inflammation of the liver or an obstruction of the bile duct, but none of these illnesses seemed to fit the symptoms. William was examined by a Royal Air Force doctor by the name of Dr. Bellringer.

Dr. Bellringer’s diagnosis was a condition called porphyria, a rare hereditary disorder mainly affecting the skin or nervous system. The doctor knew of a theory that was being proposed at the time that several members of the British royal family had suffered from this condition throughout history. Yet Dr. Bellringer stated that he had reached his conclusion independently of this line of thinking.

Soon enough, though, William's health issues took a backseat to his love life. That same year, William met an individual who would become one of the important influences in his life. Her name was Zsuzsi Starkloff, a former model and air stewardess who immediately caught his eye.

First Zsuzsi became a model in New York, mainly so she could care for her child, whom she shared with her first husband. However, she soon changed tack and began working as a flight attendant for Overseas National Airways.

Although Zsuzsi took her husband's name and moved to Japan, the marriage failed. Zsuzsi became an English teacher in Japan, but she also kept modeling. Yet again a single mother in a foreign country, Zsuzsi beat the odds and ended up becoming the face of Revlon in Japan.

This prince, of course, was William. The couple met at a cocktail shindig, where William started to call her “Cinderella” straight away. The pair were quite taken with each other, and the next day Zsuzsi sent a note directly to the British embassy. “Dear Prince Charming. I have a slipper missing. Would you like to come to a party?” the letter read.

But Zsuzsi had little inkling of what being a prince in the faraway land of Great Britain really meant. She also had no idea that she would be considered a controversial love interest for a close relative of Queen Elizabeth II. She may have been well-traveled, accomplished, and independent, but in the eyes of the Crown, these weren't always positive qualities in a potential royal wife.

You see, in the early days of the relationship between William and Zsuzsi, there seemed to have been little thought of future complications. The pair were smitten with each other, and that's all that seemed to matter. “He was quite a man,” Zsuzsi later told Christopher Wilson, a royal journalist.

After all, William was not the first — nor the last — British royal to fall under the spell of an American divorcée. In fact, they had quite a consistent history of it. In 1936 King Edward VIII abdicated the throne to wed a twice-divorced U.S. citizen by the name of Wallis Simpson.

Were they willing to stake their reputations — and that of the royal family — on their romance? With things getting serious between the couple, William began sounding out his parents about the suitability of his belle. The prince was eager to know if Zsuzsi would be accepted as his wife.

It's true that Zsuzsi was seven years her royal boyfriend’s senior. She was also Jewish. Those truths, combined with the fact that she was a divorced single mother, made her an unsuitable choice as a royal bride. By modern standards, these are pretty flimsy reasons not to be able to marry someone.

As far as he may have been from the throne, William still had royal blood, which meant he had an automatic destiny to fulfill. Even more so in the 1960s than now, the British royal family was ruled by history and protocol. William was obliged to fulfill his duties as a member of the House of Windsor...

How could one possibly choose between their heart and their own flesh and blood? Shigeo Kitano, a friend of the prince from that era, later shed some light on the Prince's feelings at that time. According to You magazine, Kitano once said, "Prince William was obviously deeply in love with [Zsuzsi]. She was very beautiful with large brown eyes and long auburn hair."

Ultimately, William understood the reality of the situation. His birthright was to serve the Crown, not his heart. William’s love for Zsuzsi — and the knowledge that he would never be able to marry her — weighed heavily on his shoulders, and those closest to him couldn't help but notice the toll it took on him.

William was determined to keep his relationship with Zsuzsi going for as long as possible. But rumor has it that the royal family began to conspire against the relationship, and it's often said that one of the chief instigators was the Queen herself. What the Queen didn't know, however, was that she had a potential traitor in her midst.

Princess Margaret, who was no stranger to opposition from the Queen on her own romantic pursuits, seemingly met with William and Zsuzsi with an open mind. And it's been said that Margaret appeared to like Zsuzsi after their first meeting. As William’s love interest herself later recalled of Margaret, "On the surface she was friendly."

Remember: Margaret was also sent to Japan to feel out the seriousness of the relationship between William and Zsuzsi. And even though she allegedly liked Zsuzsi enough to compliment her, she wrote something much different to William.

Margaret's consensus was for William and Zsuzsi to hold off on making their relationship official, advice that was no doubt inspired by her own controversial relationship with Peter Townshend earlier in her life. William’s boss — a man named Sir John Pilcher — was also enlisted by the royals to spy on his charge.

In the United States, William and Zsuzsi embarked on a trip. Finally free from the pressures of the Crown and the watchful eyes of the royal family, the couple's relationship deepened. It wasn't long before the couple adorned rings that William had presented to his lover.

William may have been mostly anonymous in the U.S., but it was a much different story in the U.K. Alarmed by the possibility that they may be losing their relative to an unsuitable match, the royals knew they had to act fast. William ended up being contacted by the Queen herself.

Although William's friends always said that he had a fun-loving and kind personality, it couldn't have been easy for the Prince to return to the U.K. without his partner. Now back in Britain, William took on the royal responsibilities expected of a man in his position. And yet, he still had time to pursue one of his main passions.

William had long been interested in planes and piloting, even before he met Zsuzsi. He’d become an enthusiastic member of the flying club at Cambridge University when he was a student. The Prince was also a keen competitor, befitting of his energetic lifestyle that also saw him develop interests in skiing, ballooning, and scuba diving.

At that point, William was more than just an adrenaline junkie — he was a genuine pilot. Not only was he President of the British Light Aviation Centre, but he was also a licensed pilot. So no one thought to worry when, towards the end of August 1972, William signed up for a light aircraft competition.

William — in the company of a fellow pilot and friend named Vyrell Mitchell — took to the skies to wow the 30,000 or so spectators. It was supposed to be a fun, exciting day for the spectators and for the competitors, so when the prince's plane buckled in midair, it almost didn't seem real.

Despite their love and experience for flying, William and Mitchell couldn't regain control of the aircraft. Thousands of people watched in horror as first responders frantically worked to douse the flames. Any hopes of either pilot surviving the crash were dashed when the first responders examined the wreckage: both men had been killed in the crash.

And as the royals mourned the unexpected loss in the U.K., someone else mourned across the pond: Zsuzsi Starkloff. During the final months of his life, had William paid any attention to the woman he’d once loved? As it turns out, he had. Zsuzsi later recalled, "He wrote me a letter."

William, it seems, hadn’t given up hope that he could one day be with the love of his life. Alas, we will never know if the first cousin of the Queen would have acted on his impulses. The crash that robbed the Prince of his life also took away any possibility of a marriage between William and Zsuzsi.

Zsuzsi Starkloff never married again after the death of her beloved William. She wore the ring that the prince had presented to her until the day she died. A director who met Zsuzsi later in life recalled her demeanor. “There was a sadness about her, a regret,” stated Brian Henry Martin.

Prince William of Gloucester’s legacy is a strong one, but to this day, not many young people know his name — or that he even existed. According to royal expert Christopher Wilson, “Prince William of Gloucester was arguably the most glamorous royal of the 20th century. Tall, sporty, and handsome, he was a role model and all-round hero for a young Prince Charles, who named his first son after him.”

Even though the Queen's cousin died over 50 years ago, he still serves as a role model to the current heir to the throne, Prince William. As today's Prince William continuously deals with the stresses caused by the press and his own feuding family, his namesake could serve as a beacon of hope: it is possible to find happiness within the confines of the royal family.