PRINCE2® is derived from an earlier method called PROMPTII, and from PRINCE project management method, which was initially developed in 1989 by the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA) as a UK Government standard for information systems (IT) project management; however, it soon became regularly applied outside the purely IT environment.  PRINCE2® was released in 1996 as a generic project management method.  PRINCE2® has become increasingly popular and is now a de facto standard for project management in the UK.  Its use has spread beyond the UK to more than 50 other countries.

The most current revision was released in 2009 as part of the PRINCE2®:2009 refresh project by the Office of Government Commerce.

Since 2006, the method has been revised and launched as "PRINCE2®:2009 Refresh" on June 16, 2009. The name "PRINCE2®" (instead of "PRINCE3" or similar) is kept to indicate that the method remains faithful to its principles. Nevertheless, it is a fundamental revision of the method from 1996 to adapt it to the changed business environment, to make the method simpler and "lighter", to address current weaknesses or misunderstandings, and to better integrate it with other OGC methods (ITIL, P3O, P3M3, MSP, M_o_R etc.).