Prince William is 21 on Saturday and knows his destiny. But what are the dreams of other 21 year olds in Britain today? MAXINE GORDON speaks to two young North Yorkshire men.

MUCH speculation surrounds what William will do next. As second in line to the throne, there is a job waiting for him. But, considering his dad is ahead of him in the queue, it will be many years before he gets to wear the crown.

There is talk of William following in Prince Charles's footsteps with a military career in the Welsh Guards. But in the meantime he has another two years of a degree course to complete at St Andrews University.

As 21st birthday celebrations go, William is in line for something quite extraordinary. A day of engagements with Dad in Wales is to be followed by a party at Windsor Castle, where both sides of his feuding family - the Windsors and the Spencers - will gather for the first time since their public rift at Princess Diana's funeral.

One suspects not many 21 year olds would relish such a prospect.

In fact, despite his wealth, film-star looks and status as the world's most eligible bachelor, few young men would wish to swap places with William Arthur Philip Louis, or Will as he likes to be called.

For unlike most 21 year olds, William's aspirations will for ever be tempered by the fact he is the man who would be king. Duty calls for the former Etonian who is an accomplished sportsman, has developed an interest in social anthropology and is teaching himself Swahili so he can communicate with people on the continent he loves: Africa.

For any other 21 year old, such passions and talents could open doors to careers, travel and even physical triumphs. But for William they only take him down a dead-end road from which he must always return to face his destiny.

But for other young men his age, what does the future hold? To find out, we tracked down two North Yorkshire 21 year olds who we last spoke to three years ago at the time of Prince William's 18th birthday.

Andrew Connor

Since leaving York College with a National Diploma in 3D design, Andrew has been studying transport design at Coventry University, where he has just completed his final year.

His parents live in Sand Hutton and his 18-year-old brother is a student at Portsmouth University.

Three years ago, Andrew told us he wanted to work abroad, and that is still his ambition. He is putting off getting a job so he can fulfil his dream to travel.

Once he gets the travel bug out of his system he plans to pursue a career in design. "I want to be creative. I could do car design or product design, graphics or even advertising," he said. Or perhaps he may be able to marry both passions: travel and design. "Ford has just moved out to Australia," he says excitedly.

Andrew turned 21 in January and shared the occasion with family, followed by a party with friends. "There was no bash at Windsor Castle for me," he says with a laugh. And he doesn't envy Prince William's position.

"I don't think he has as many opportunities as me," he says. "He has a very hard life to lead and has to handle a lot of pressure and media hassle. He will never be able to lead a normal life."

When it comes to politics Andrew was uncomfortable about the war in Iraq but thought regime change was a worthwhile result. "When I saw all those mass graves I thought it was good that the Iraqi people had been freed," he adds.

As for Britain's future: he sees its merger into a centralised Europe as inevitable, but regrettable. He says: "I don't want to be run by Brussels or by people in another country."

But perhaps he needn't worry: if Andrew's dreams come true, his wallet will be stuffed with Australian dollars, not euros.

Nikolas Voigt

After finishing a media studies course at York College, Nikolas Voigt took a qualification in Teaching English as a Foreign Language and moved to the Czech Republic to be with his Czech girlfriend Irena, right.

The couple met four years ago when Irena was visiting the Camphill community at Norton, near Malton, which supports people with learning difficulties and where Nikolas's family live.

This summer, Nikolas and Irena will be returning to England - he to study photography and video production at De Montford University in Leicester, she to finish her Phd in human geography at Leicester University.

Since speaking to us last, Nikolas feels he has become more independent and focused.

"It was good to come to the Czech Republic," he says. "Although I enjoy teaching, I've don't see myself doing it full time. I've realised I want to do photography."

He added: "It's been good for me to come to a different country, get a full-time job and have to survive on my own."

Like Prince William will do, he spent his 21st birthday with his folks. "I don't remember much about it. It was just a nice day with my family," he said. Quite different from his 18th birthday, which fell during a year working at a Camphill project in Botswana and was spent drinking with friends in the Kalahari desert.

Nikolas feels he has exorcised his wanderlust for now and is looking forward to returning to the UK.

"I miss curries and just being able to understand people chatting in the street. I can speak a bit of Czech, but it's a very complicated language: they have seven different ways of saying a person's name."

He has kept in touch with news back home. He was against the war in Iraq and is not convinced we should join the euro. "I am sceptical about big groups. It may work economically, but from the humanity point of view, it is wrong," he says.

As for the royals - they're just a tourist trap, he asserts. "They help England have an identity. A lot of English people find it difficult to identify with their country since the Empire collapsed." And he would not wish to change places with William. "His life is already mapped out," says Nikolas. "I don't envy him."

Updated: 11:09 Thursday, June 19, 2003