Investiture of the prince of Wales

wearing his coronet It is recorded that Llywelyn ap Gruffudd had deposited his coronet along with his other regalia with the monks at Cymer Abbey for safekeeping at the start of his final campaign in 1282. He was killed later that year. The coronet was seized and presented to King Edward I of England as a token of the complete annihilation of the independent Welsh state. == English, later British heirs apparent ==

The tradition of investing the heir apparent of the English, and subsequently the British, monarch with the title of "Prince of Wales" began in 1301, when King Edward I, gave the title to his heir apparent, Edward of Caernarvon. Regalia Frederick, Prince of Wales, later had a coronet made at a cost of £140 5s. in 1728. It is unknown whether Frederick ever wore the coronet himself, but it was used by both his son George III and his grandson George IV when each was Prince of Wales. Due to its age Frederick's coronet was replaced by the Coronet of George, Prince of Wales, later King George V. At George's own coronation on 22 July 1911, the coronet was worn by his son Edward, the next Prince of Wales. The crown was also worn at the public ceremony of investiture of Edward as Prince of Wales, held at Caernarvon Castle on 13 July 1911. Edward, later Edward VIII Edward was made Prince of Wales on his 16th birthday in 1910, shortly after his father King George V had succeeded to the throne. George V was persuaded, by the then (Welsh) Chancellor of the Exchequer, David Lloyd George, to revive the investiture ceremony for Edward. The ceremony was reinvented in a grand medieval style and took place at Caernarvon Castle in north Wales. Charles, later Charles III Charles, son of Queen Elizabeth II, and later King Charles III, was made Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester by letters patent on 26 July 1958, but the official investiture was not held until 1 July 1969. The ceremony was at Caernarvon Castle. Taught at University College of Wales, Aberystwyth by the lecturer and Welsh-nationalist politician Edward Millward, Prince Charles spent ten weeks leading up to his investiture learning about Welsh culture, history and language, and during the ceremony he gave his replies in both English and Welsh. He gave his address in Welsh. On the evening of 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 and Richard Baker. This was preceded by an interview with Prince Charles recorded a few days before his investiture. The BBC repeated the broadcast on 1 July 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary. William William, son of King Charles III, was made Prince of Wales on 9 September 2022. There are no plans for a formal investiture, Charles reportedly did not want to 'put William through' what he went through during his own investiture in 1969. == Opposition to investitures ==

The protests leading up to the investiture of Charles as Prince of Wales were described as the "anti-investiture movement". A number of organisations and individuals in Wales were against the investiture including Dafydd Iwan, Edward Millward, Cofia 1282 ("remember 1282") and the Welsh Language Society. For a minority of people, the investiture itself was controversial and led to widespread protests. On the day of the investiture, a few nonviolent protesters were arrested. Since the investiture of Charles, further notable organisations and figures in Wales have called for an end to the title including Plaid Cymru (which has since changed its stance), Republic, Michael Sheen, Dafydd Elis-Thomas, Leanne Wood, and Bethan Sayed. On 9 September 2022 Prince William was announced as Prince of Wales by King Charles III. By 12 September, a petition calling to end the use of the title had received nearly 20,000 signatures. == Opinion polls ==

A BBC Wales poll in 1999 found that 73 per cent of Welsh speakers wanted the position of Prince of Wales to continue. A BBC poll in 2009, marking the 40th anniversary of the investiture, showed that 58 per cent of the Welsh population was in favour of a similar public ceremony for Prince William after the accession of Charles to the throne. A poll in July 2018 again found 57% of Welsh people in support of the title passing on after the accession of Charles to the throne, with 27% opposed. Support for a similar investiture was less, with 31% supporting, 27% opposed and 18% wanting a different kind of investiture. Opinion polls on the investiture of the Prince of Wales in Wales Type of investiture Investiture support == Notes ==