William Slater-Meade

William Slater-Meade is the son of Wilhelmina Slater and the deceased Bradford Meade. He has three half-siblings, Alexis Meade and Daniel Meade, from his fathers' previous marriage to Claire Meade, and also Nico Slater, his mothers' teenaged daughter from a previous relationship.

His conception, after his fathers death, was arranged by his mother solely for the reason that he would inherit 1/3 of the Meade Publishing Empire, of which she would be the legal guardian of until his 18th birthday. Due to his mother being unable to carry another child, dressmaker Christina McKinney offered herself as a surrogate to carry William to term in exchange for $50000 for a life-saving operation for her husband Stuart.

Williams' life was threatened twice during his time in the womb. At three months gestation Christina, having discovered the paternity of the baby she was carrying and thus Wilhelmina's true intentions, threatened to renege on their agreement and, it seemed, abort the pregnancy. She was later dissuaded by her husband. Not long afterwards, Christina was pushed down a flight of stairs by Alexis, who had mistook her for Wilhelmina.

Christina eventually gave birth during Fashion Week, in the middle of a runway after realising the back exits were blocked and being forced to walk down the catwalk to attempt to reach the front exit. Wilhelmina used this to her advantage as a way to relish the media attention.

A future storyline involving doubts over Williams' maternity is set to be introduced, with both Wilhelmina and Christina believing a mix-up may have taken place which, if true, would result in Christina being the biological mother. Another future storyline also involves a kidnap of baby William, most likely for ransom money.