Wills the water polo international

Prince William - who calls himself William Wales - has been picked to play water polo for Scotland.

He has been called up for the Scottish universities squad against teams from Wales and Ireland.

The 6ft 3in prince, who took up the sport while at Eton, has been heavily involved with the St Andrews University team since starting there in 2002 but missed the trials last year because of other commitments.

Clarence House said he was "delighted" to be on the team this year.

The prince, 21, competed with 30 others for a place on the13-man squad, and Matt McGeehan of the Scottish Universities Sports Federation stressed that he won through on merit alone.

He said: "It was no different for him and we did not want it to be. But we are happy for him to be one of the guys."

William arrived at the trials with a bodyguard and was offered private facilities. However, he insisted on using the main changing rooms at the council-run Carnegie Leisure Centre in Dunfermline, Fife.

The prince is said to be a "good team player" and Mr McGeehan, the federation's water polo co-ordinator, said he had high hopes of success in the upcoming competition.

But he added: "The Welsh team is quite strong so it is going to be quite hard."

Last year the Scottish students lost to the Welsh in "quite a close match".

The Celtic Nations student tournament takes place in Cardiff next month.