Investiture of the Prince of Wales
Encyclopedia
Investiture
Investiture, from the Latin is a rather general term for the formal installation of an incumbent...
of the Prince of Wales is the ceremony marking the formal creation of the title of 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...
, similar to a coronation
Coronation
A coronation is a ceremony marking the formal investiture of a monarch and/or their consort with regal power, usually involving the placement of a crown upon their head and the presentation of other items of regalia...
. An Investiture is not required for the Princes of Wales, as the title is created via Letters patent
Letters patent
Letters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch or president, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or corporation...
, and consequently the ceremony is for formal purposes only.
History
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
, having completed the conquest of Wales, gave the title to his heir, Prince Edward (later King Edward II of England
Edward II of England
Edward II , called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed by his wife Isabella in January 1327. He was the sixth Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II...
).
Form
Princes of Wales may be invested, but investiture is not necessary to be created Prince of Wales. PeersPeerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
were also invested, but investitures for peers ceased in 1621, during a time when peerages were being created so frequently that the investiture ceremony became cumbersome. Most investitures for Princes of Wales were held in front of Parliament, but in 1911, the future Edward VIII
Edward VIII of the United Kingdom
Edward VIII was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, and Emperor of India, from 20 January to 11 December 1936.Before his accession to the throne, Edward was Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay...
was invested in Caernarvon Castle in Wales. The present Prince of Wales was also invested there, in 1969.
Regalia
During the reading of the letters patent creating the Prince, the Honours of the Principality of Wales
Honours of the Principality of Wales
The Honours of the Principality of Wales are the Crown Jewels used at the investiture of Princes of Wales. They include a coronet, a ring, a rod, a sword, a girdle, and a mantle....
are delivered to the Prince. The coronet of the heir-apparent bears four-crosses pattée alternating with four fleurs-de-lis, surmounted by a single arch (the Sovereign's crowns are of the same design, but use two arches). A gold rod is also used in the insignia; gold rods were formally used in the investitures of dukes, but survive now in the investitures of Princes of Wales only. Also part of the insignia are a ring, a girdle, a sword and a robe.
Coronets
It is recorded that Llywelyn the LastLlywelyn the Last
Llywelyn ap Gruffydd or Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf , sometimes rendered as Llywelyn II, was the last prince of an independent Wales before its conquest by Edward I of England....
had deposited his coronet
Llywelyn's coronet
Llywelyn's coronet is a lost treasure of Welsh history. It is recorded that Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales and Lord of Aberffraw had deposited this crown and other items with the monks at Cymer Abbey for safekeeping at the start of his final campaign in 1282. He was killed later that year...
along with his other regalia
Regalia
Regalia is Latin plurale tantum for the privileges and the insignia characteristic of a Sovereign.The word stems from the Latin substantivation of the adjective regalis, 'regal', itself from Rex, 'king'...
with the monks at Cymer Abbey for safekeeping at the start of his final campaign in 1282. He was killed later that year. It was seized and presented to King Edward I of England
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
as a token of the complete annihilation of the independent Welsh state.
Frederick, Prince of Wales
Frederick, Prince of Wales
Frederick, Prince of Wales was a member of the House of Hanover and therefore of the Hanoverian and later British Royal Family, the eldest son of George II and father of George III, as well as the great-grandfather of Queen Victoria...
later had the Coronet of Frederick, Prince of Wales made at a cost of one hundred and forty pounds and five shillings in 1728. It is unknown whether Frederick ever wore the coronet himself but it was used both by his son, George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
and his grandson, George IV
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
when each was Prince of Wales.
Due to age Frederick's coronet was replaced by the Coronet of George, Prince of Wales made for the future George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
. At George's own coronation in 1911, the coronet was worn by his son, Edward, the next Prince of Wales.
When the Edward VIII of the United Kingdom
Edward VIII of the United Kingdom
Edward VIII was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, and Emperor of India, from 20 January to 11 December 1936.Before his accession to the throne, Edward was Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay...
went into exile as the Duke of Windsor in 1936, he took with him the Coronet of George, Prince of Wales, a highly controversial – and illegal – act. This coronet had, since 1902, been used by successive Princes of Wales at their investitures, including his own investiture of 1911. The traditional coronet being unavailable, and with the older Coronet of Frederick, Prince of Wales being viewed unusable due to age, the only option was the creation of a new Prince of Wales crown to be used for the investiture of the current Heir Apparent to the throne as Prince of Wales. The Coronet of Charles, Prince of Wales was produced by a committee under Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, then husband of Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon.
Investiture of Prince Charles
Earl of Chester
The Earldom of Chester was one of the most powerful earldoms in medieval England. Since 1301 the title has generally been granted to heirs-apparent to the English throne, and from the late 14th century it has been given only in conjunction with that of Prince of Wales.- Honour of Chester :The...
by Letters Patent on 26 July 1958, though his actual investiture
Investiture
Investiture, from the Latin is a rather general term for the formal installation of an incumbent...
did not take place until 1 July 1969. The ceremony at Caernarfon has traditionally been associated with the subjugation of Welsh
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
people since the 13th century, when Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
deposed the last native Prince of Wales, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd. Previous investitures had taken place at various locations, including the Palace of Westminster
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...
, the seat of Parliament. The Welsh borough of Swansea
Swansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
was granted city status
City status in the United Kingdom
City status in the United Kingdom is granted by the British monarch to a select group of communities. The holding of city status gives a settlement no special rights other than that of calling itself a "city". Nonetheless, this appellation carries its own prestige and, consequently, competitions...
to mark the occasion. Prince Charles spent ten weeks leading up to his Investiture learning about Welsh culture and language
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
and during the ceremony he gave his replies in both English and Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
.
The investiture was watched by millions on TV and attracted large and excited crowds in Caernarfon but it also aroused considerable hostility among some Welsh people, and some were under constant police surveillance and were the subject of much intimidation from the secret services. Threats of violence ensued as well as a short bombing campaign, although these acts were generally more related to the greater nationalist campaign for Welsh independence
Welsh independence
Welsh independence is a political ideal advocated by some people in Wales that would see Wales secede from the United Kingdom and become an independent sovereign state. This ideology is promoted mainly by the Welsh nationalist party, Plaid Cymru.-History:...
. The nationalist campaign against the investiture culminated with an attempted bombing by two members of the Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru
Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru
Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru , abbreviated as MAC, was a paramilitary Welsh nationalist organisation, which was responsible for a number of bombing incidents between 1963 and 1969....
(Movement for the Defence of Wales). On the eve of the investiture 2 bombers were killed whilst placing a bomb outside government offices in Abergele. In recent years, it has been claimed that the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
plotted to disrupt the proceedings by bombing a bridge in Porthmadog
Porthmadog
Porthmadog , known locally as "Port", and historically rendered into English as Portmadoc, is a small coastal town and community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd, in Wales. Prior to the Local Government Act 1972 it was in the administrative county of Caernarfonshire. The town lies east of...
.
In recent opinion polls the majority of Welsh people have remained in favour of the monarchy with 70% plus support the usual figure; a poll in North Wales in 2003 by the Daily Post found 80% of respondents wanted Prince William to become the next Prince of Wales. Welsh speakers are no less likely to be monarchist, with a BBC Wales poll in 1999 finding that 73% of Welsh speakers want the position of Prince of Wales to continue. A BBC poll to mark the 40th anniversary of the investiture showed that 58% of the Welsh population were in favour of a similar public ceremony for Prince William when Charles becomes king.
On the evening of Sunday, 28 June 2009 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the investiture, BBC Parliament broadcast a repeat of the original BBC TV colour outside broadcast from 1 July 1969, fronted by Cliff Michelmore
Cliff Michelmore
Arthur Clifford "Cliff" Michelmore CBE is a British television presenter and producer. He is best known for the BBC television programme Tonight, which he presented from 1957 to 1965....
and Richard Baker (broadcaster)
Richard Baker (broadcaster)
Richard Baker OBE is a British broadcaster best known as a newsreader for the BBC News from 1954 to 1982. He was a contemporary of Kenneth Kendall and Robert Dougall and was the first person to read the BBC Television News in 1954. At one time he lived in Barnet, North London...
. This was preceded by an interview with Prince Charles recorded a few days before his investiture.