Incumbents

• Prince of Wales
  Prince of Wales
  Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...
  
   - Charles, Prince of Wales
  Charles, Prince of Wales
  Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...
  
  
• Princess of Wales
  Princess of Wales
  Princess of Wales is a British courtesy title held by the wife of The Prince of Wales since the first "English" Prince of Wales in 1283.Although there have been considerably more than ten male heirs to the throne, there have been only ten Princesses of Wales. The majority of Princes of Wales...
  
   - vacant
• Secretary of State for Wales
  Secretary of State for Wales
  The Secretary of State for Wales is the head of the Wales Office within the British cabinet. He or she is responsible for ensuring Welsh interests are taken into account by the government, representing the government within Wales and overseeing the passing of legislation which is only for Wales...
  
   - Ron Davies
• Archbishop of Wales
  Archbishop of Wales
  The post of Archbishop of Wales was created in 1920 when the Church in Wales was separated from the Church of England , and disestablished...
  
   - Alwyn Rice Jones
  Alwyn Rice Jones
  Alwyn Rice Jones was Bishop of St Asaph from 1982 to 1999 and also Archbishop of Wales, the Welsh province of the Anglican Communion, from 1991 to 1999...
  
  

Events

• 15 January - Diana, Princess of Wales
  Diana, Princess of Wales
  Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
  
   calls for an international ban on landmines.
• 21 January - Wales child abuse scandal
  Wales child abuse scandal
  The Wales child abuse scandal was the subject of a three-year, £13 million investigation into the sexual abuse of children in care homes in North Wales over two decades....
  
  : Over eighty people are named as child abusers in care homes in North Wales
  North Wales
  North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...
  
  .
• March - Launch of the "Welsh Language in Chubut
  Chubut Province
  Chubut a province in the southern part of Argentina situated between the 42nd parallel south and the 46th parallel south , the Andes range separating Argentina from Chile, and the Atlantic ocean...
  
  " project.
• 13 March - Launch of the Aberystwyth
  Aberystwyth
  Aberystwyth is a historic market town, administrative centre and holiday resort within Ceredigion, Wales. Often colloquially known as Aber, it is located at the confluence of the rivers Ystwyth and Rheidol....
  
   Centre for the Book.
• 1 May - In the UK General Election
  United Kingdom general election, 1997
  The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
  
  , four female MPs are elected in Wales -- Julie Morgan
  Julie Morgan
  Julie Morgan AM is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Cardiff North from 1997 until 2010; she is married to former First Minister of Wales, Rhodri Morgan. Julie Morgan won the Cardiff North seat in the Welsh Assembly in the 2011 elections.-Early life,...
  
  , Ann Clwyd
  Ann Clwyd
  Ann Clwyd Roberts is a Welsh Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Cynon Valley since 1984.-Early life:Ann Clwyd is the daughter of Gwilym Henri Lewis and Elizabeth Ann Lewis...
  
  , Betty Williams
  Betty Helena Williams
  Betty Helena Williams is a Welsh Labour politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Conwy from 1997 to 2010.-Early life:Williams was born in St David's Hospital, Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales...
  
   and Jackie Lawrence. Lembit Öpik
  Lembit Öpik
  Lembit Öpik is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Montgomeryshire in Wales from 1997 until he lost his seat in the 2010 General Election...
  
   becomes MP for Montgomeryshire.
• 31 August - Newsreader Martyn Lewis
  Martyn Lewis (journalist)
  Martyn Lewis CBE is a British television news presenter and journalist.-Early life:Lewis was born in Swansea, West Glamorgan, though was educated at the co-educational Dalriada School in Northern Ireland and graduated with a BA degree from Trinity College, Dublin. He then joined BBC Northern...
  
   announces the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.
• 1 September - The Prince of Wales flies to Paris to bring home the body of his ex-wife. Bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones, the only survivor of the crash in which Diana died, remains in a critical condition.
• 6 September - At the funeral of the former Princess of Wales, her coffin is carried into Westminster Abbey by a contingent of Welsh Guards
  Welsh Guards
  The Welsh Guards is an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Guards Division.-Creation :The Welsh Guards came into existence on 26 February 1915 by Royal Warrant of His Majesty King George V in order to include Wales in the national component to the Foot Guards, "..though the order...
  
  .
• 18 September - The referendum
  Referendum
  A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
  
   on Welsh devolution
  Devolution
  Devolution is the statutory granting of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to government at a subnational level, such as a regional, local, or state level. Devolution can be mainly financial, e.g. giving areas a budget which was formerly administered by central government...
  
   results in a narrow "Yes" vote.
• 13 October - First section of the restored
  Welsh Highland Railway restoration
  The restoration of Welsh Highland Railway has a colourful and complex history. This article provides the modern history:-The Background of the Welsh Highland Railway :...
  
   Welsh Highland Railway
  Welsh Highland Railway
  The Welsh Highland Railway is a long restored narrow gauge heritage railway in North Wales, operating from Caernarfon to Porthmadog, and passing through a number of popular tourist destinations including Beddgelert and the Aberglaslyn Pass. At Porthmadog it connects with the Ffestiniog Railway...
  
   (60 cm (2 ft) gauge
  Narrow gauge
  A narrow gauge railway is a railway that has a track gauge narrower than the of standard gauge railways. Most existing narrow gauge railways have gauges of between and .- Overview :...
  
  ) officially opens over 5 km (3 mi) of former standard gauge
  Standard gauge
  The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
  
   trackbed between Caernarfon
  Caernarfon railway station
  Caernarfon Station is the northern terminus of the narrow gauge Welsh Highland Railway, located in the town of Caernarfon. It was opened on 11 October 1997 when the line was constructed from Dinas.- History :...
  
   and Dinas
  Dinas railway station
  Dinas is a station on the narrow gauge Welsh Highland Railway, which was built in 1877 as the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways Moel Tryfan Undertaking to carry dressed slate for trans-shipment to the LNWR. Passenger services ceased on 26 September 1936 until which time Dinas had been a joint...
  
  .
• Alun Hoddinott
  Alun Hoddinott
  Alun Hoddinott CBE , was a Welsh composer of classical music, one of the first to receive international recognition.-Life and works:...
  
   receives the Glyndwr Award for an Outstanding Contribution to the Arts in Wales.
• Bryn Euryn, an archaeological site near Colwyn Bay
  Colwyn Bay
  - Demography :Prior to local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974 Colwyn Bay was a municipal borough with a population of c.25,000, but in 1974 this designation disappeared leaving five separate parishes, known as communities in Wales, of which the one bearing the name Colwyn Bay encompassed...
  
  , is identified as the probable base of Cynlas Goch, a 6th century king.
• Cardiff Arms Park
  Cardiff Arms Park
  Cardiff Arms Park , also known as The Arms Park, is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green, and is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. The Arms Park was host to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1958, and hosted four games in the 1991 Rugby World...
  
   is demolished to make way for a new stadium.
• Welsh Sheepdog Society is founded.
• Jenny Pride becomes the first Welsh female to command a unit of the Royal Engineers
  Royal Engineers
  The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
  
  .

Arts

• Sir Harry Secombe
  Harry Secombe
  Sir Harry Donald Secombe CBE was a Welsh entertainer with a talent for comedy and a noted fine tenor singing voice. He is best known for playing Neddie Seagoon, the central character in the BBC radio comedy series The Goon Show...
  
   suffers a stroke.
• October - The Red Violin festival is held for the first time in Cardiff
  Cardiff
  Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
  
  .

Awards

• Glyndŵr Award
  Glyndwr Award
  The Glyndŵr Award is made for an Outstanding Contribution to the Arts in Wales. It is given by the Machynlleth Tabernacle Trust to pre-eminent figures in music, art and literature in rotation...
  
   - Alun Hoddinott
  Alun Hoddinott
  Alun Hoddinott CBE , was a Welsh composer of classical music, one of the first to receive international recognition.-Life and works:...
  
  
• National Eisteddfod of Wales
  National Eisteddfod of Wales
  The National Eisteddfod of Wales is the most important of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales.- Organisation :...
  
   - held in Bala
  Bala, Gwynedd
  Bala is a market town and community in Gwynedd, Wales, and formerly an urban district of the historic county of Merionethshire. It lies at the north end of Bala Lake , 17 miles north-east of Dolgellau, with a population of 1,980...
  
  
  • Chair - Ceri Wyn Jones
  • Crown - Cen Williams
  • Literature Prize - Angharad Tomos
    Angharad Tomos
    Angharad Tomos is a Welsh author and prominent language activist.-Biography:Tomos was born in Bangor, Gwynedd, in 1958, and raised with her five sisters in Llanwnda near Caernarfon. She attended Ysgol Gynradd Bontnewydd and Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle...
    
    , Y Canol Llonydd
  • Gwobr Goffa Daniel Owen - Gwyneth Carey
  • Richard Burton Prize - Rhys ap Trefor

• Welsh Arts Council Book of the Year - Iwan Llwyd, Dan Ddylanwad (Under the Influence)

Books

• Rees Davies
  Rees Davies
  Sir Robert Rees Davies CBE , was a noted Welsh historian.He was born in Merionethshire, and educated at Bala grammar school. He was bilingual in Welsh and English. He received a First in his degree from University College, London, where he later returned as a lecturer...
  
   - The Revolt of Owain Glyn Dŵr
• Angharad Tomos
  Angharad Tomos
  Angharad Tomos is a Welsh author and prominent language activist.-Biography:Tomos was born in Bangor, Gwynedd, in 1958, and raised with her five sisters in Llanwnda near Caernarfon. She attended Ysgol Gynradd Bontnewydd and Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle...
  
   - Wele'n Gwawrio
• Gerwyn Williams - Cydio’n Dynn

Music

• L'Héritage des Celtes, featuring Elaine Morgan
  Elaine Morgan (singer)
  thumb|Elaine Morgan in concert with [[Dan Ar Braz]], 2008Elaine Morgan is a Welsh folk singer born in Cardiff in 1960. She was a member of Dan Ar Braz's group L'Heritage des Celtes, and often sang lead vocals, either alone or jointly with Karen Matheson...
  
   - Finisterre
• Bryn Terfel
  Bryn Terfel
  Bryn Terfel Jones CBE is a Welsh bass-baritone opera and concert singer. Terfel was initially associated with the roles of Mozart, particularly Figaro and Leporello, but has subsequently shifted his attention to heavier roles, especially those by Wagner....
  
   makes his debut at La Scala
  La Scala
  La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
  
   as Figaro.
• Stereophonics
  Stereophonics
  The Stereophonics are a Welsh rock band now living in turners x that formed in 1992 in the village of Cwmaman in Cynon Valley, Wales. The band currently comprises lead vocalist and guitarist Kelly Jones, bassist and backing vocalist Richard Jones, drummer Javier Weyler, guitarist and backing...
  
   release their first album, Word Gets Around.
• Gorky's Zygotic Mynci
  Gorky's Zygotic Mynci
  Gorky's Zygotic Mynci were a Welsh alternative rock band, formed in Carmarthen, west Wales in 1991. They sang songs in both Welsh and English. They split up in May 2006.-Biography:...
  
   - Barafundle
  Barafundle
  Barafundle is the title of a 1997 album by Welsh band Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, and is highly regarded by such websites as allmusic as their best album. Songs are often sung in both Welsh and English, and the album's influences range from twee-pop to traditional folk music. The album's title comes...
  
  
• Iwcs a Doyle
  Iwcs a Doyle
  Iwcs a Doyle were a popular Welsh-language two-piece band.Iwan "Iwcs" Roberts, and John Doyle formed the duo Iwcs a Doyle in 1995. They rose to fame following their success with the song “Cerrig yr Afon” in the annually held “Cân i Gymru” competition in 1996. The pair recorded an album entitled...
  
   - Edrychiad Cynta’

Film

• Ioan Gruffudd
  Ioan Gruffudd
  Ioan Gruffudd is a Welsh actor.Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he started off in Welsh language film productions, then came to international attention as Fifth Officer Harold Lowe in the film Titanic , and as Lt. John Beales in Black Hawk Down...
  
   and Bernard Fox appear in the blockbuster Titanic
  Titanic (1997 film)
  Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...
  
  .
• Michael Sheen
  Michael Sheen
  Michael Christopher Sheen, OBE , is a Welsh stage and screen actor. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England and made his professional debut opposite Vanessa Redgrave in When She Danced at the Globe Theatre in 1991...
  
   stars in Wilde.
• Horror film Darklands
  Darklands (film)
  Darklands is a British horror film written and directed by Julian Richards, starring Craig Fairbrass, Jon Finch, Rowena King and released in 1997....
  
  is filmed in Port Talbot
  Port Talbot
  Port Talbot is a town in Neath Port Talbot, Wales. It had a population of 35,633 in 2001.-History:Port Talbot grew out of the original small port and market town of Aberafan , which belonged to the medieval Lords of Afan. The area of the parish of Margam lying on the west bank of the lower Afan...
  
  .

Welsh-language television

• Ffermio
• Pam Fi Duw? starring Brian Hibbard
  Brian Hibbard
  Brian Hibbard is a Welsh actor and singer, best remembered as the lead vocalist in the original Flying Pickets.Hibbard was born in Ebbw Vale, and after various job including teacher, steel worker, barman and chimney sweep, he formed the Flying Pickets with a group of other actors who had practised...
  
  
• Tylluan Wen starring John Ogwen
  John Ogwen
  John Ogwen is a Welsh actor.Best known to British audiences for his starring role in the 1978 drama series Hawkmoor, and appearances in the television series The District Nurse and the Doctor Who serial Revelation of the Daleks, Ogwen has been a stalwart of Welsh language television and film since...
  
  
• Y Clwb Rygbi
  Y Clwb Rygbi
  Y Clwb Rygbi is a rugby union television programme shown on Welsh language channel S4C. Produced by BBC Cymru Wales, the show is amongst the most popular programmes shown on S4C.-Format:...
  
  

Sport

• Boxing:
  • 11 October - Joe Calzaghe
    Joe Calzaghe
    Joseph William Calzaghe, CBE, MBE is a Welsh former professional boxer. He is the former WBO, WBA, WBC, IBF, The Ring & British super middleweight champion and The Ring light heavyweight champion....
    
     beats Chris Eubank to become the Super Middleweight World Champion.
  • 19 December - Barry Jones
    Barry Jones (boxer)
    Barry Jones was a professional boxer from Cardiff, Wales. Jones was WBO super featherweight champion, but lost his title when his license was revoked by the British Boxing Board of Control after an anomaly was discovered during a brain scan....
    
     beats Wilson Palacio to become the WBO Super featherweight Champion.
• Cricket - Glamorgan
  Glamorgan County Cricket Club
  Glamorgan County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Glamorgan aka Glamorganshire . Glamorgan CCC is the only Welsh first-class cricket club. Glamorgan CCC have won the English County...
  
   win the County Championship.

Deaths

• 9 March (in Los Angeles
  Los Ángeles
  Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
  
  ) - Terry Nation
  Terry Nation
  Terry Nation was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist.He is probably best known for creating the villainous Daleks in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who...
  
  , screenwriter often credited with inventing the Dalek
  Dalek
  The Daleks are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Within the series, Daleks are cyborgs from the planet Skaro, created by the scientist Davros during the final years of a thousand-year war against the Thals...
  
  s, 66
• 10 March - Wilf Wooller, cricketer, rugby player, journalist and sports administrator, 84
• 2 June - Eddie Thomas
  Eddie Thomas
  Eddie Thomas MBE , was a Welsh boxing champion and boxing manager.Thomas was born in Merthyr Tydfil. After a highly successful amateur boxing career, he turned professional in 1946. He won the Welsh welterweight title in 1948, the British welterweight title in 1949, and the European welterweight...
  
  , boxing champion and manager, 70
• 10 July - Ivor Allchurch
  Ivor Allchurch
  Ivor John Allchurch MBE was a Welsh international footballer. His brother was Len Allchurch.Known as 'The Golden Boy' of Welsh football, Allchurch played for Swansea Town, Newcastle United and Cardiff City, where he amassed 691 games scoring 249 goals. His record of 68 caps for Wales stood until...
  
  , footballer, 67
• 16 July - Ron Berry
  Ron Berry
  Ronald Anthony "Ron" Berry was a Welsh author of novels and short stories. Born in the Rhondda Valleys where he remained for most his life, his books reflect the working class of the industrial valleys though his vision is more optimistic and there is less concern for politics and religion which...
  
  , writer, 77
• 2 August - Rhydwen Williams
  Rhydwen Williams
  Robert Rhydwenfro Williams, known as Rhydwen Williams , was a Welsh poet, novelist and Baptist minister. His work is mainly written in his native Welsh language, and is noted for adapting the established style and context of Welsh poetry from a rural and bygone age to that of a modern industrial...
  
  , poet, novelist, and minister, 80
• 20 August - Bernard Cowey
  Bernard Cowey
  Brigadier Bernard 'Bun' Cowey DSO, OBE was an English rugby union wing who played club rugby for Newport and international rugby for Wales. Unlike most rugby internationals Cowey was most associated with the Army Rugby Union rather than club or county rugby...
  
  , Wales international rugby union player, 85
• 31 August (in Paris
  Paris
  Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
  
  ) - Diana, Princess of Wales
  Diana, Princess of Wales
  Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
  
  , 36
• 22 September - George Thomas, 1st Viscount Tonypandy
  George Thomas, 1st Viscount Tonypandy
  Thomas George Thomas, 1st Viscount Tonypandy PC was a British Labour Party politician and Speaker of the House of Commons. Born in Port Talbot, Wales, he initially worked as a teacher in both London and Cardiff...
  
  , former Speaker of the House of Commons, 88
• 6 November - Ray Daniel
  Ray Daniel
  William Raymond "Ray" Daniel was a Welsh football player and manager.Daniel was born in Swansea and started out at his local club Swansea Town as an amateur. In 1946 he was snapped up by Arsenal aged 18...
  
  , footballer, 69
• 13 November - Alexander Cordell
  Alexander Cordell
  Alexander Cordell was the pen-name of George Alexander Graber, a prolific Welsh novelist and author of thirty acclaimed works including Rape of the Fair Country, The Hosts of Rebecca and Song of the Earth....
  
  , novelist, 83
• 16 November - Aubrey Edwards
  Aubrey Edwards
  Aubrey Edwards was a Welsh cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-pace seam bowler who played first-class cricket for Glamorgan. He was born in Penygraig....
  
  , cricketer, 79
• 16 December - Leon Eagles, actor, 65
• 28 December - Ronnie Williams
  Ronnie Williams
  Ronnie Williams was a Welsh actor and comedian.Williams struggled with his choice of an acting career, making an isolated television appearance in The Wednesday Play in 1966...
  
  , actor and comedian, 58
• date unknown
  • Douglas Jones
    Douglas Jones (footballer)
    Douglas Jones was a footballer who played in the Football League for Carlisle United and Stoke City. He was born in Blaenau Ffestiniog, Wales.-References:...
    
    , footballer
  • Alan Taylor
    Alan Taylor (television presenter)
    Alan Taylor was a television presenter, popular in Wales and the West Country during the 1960s and 1970s.Taylor was originally from Cardiff, where his family had an electrical business. He served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War. He began his television career as a continuity...
    
    , TV presenter