Investiture Of Charles, Prince Of Wales

The investiture of Charles, Prince of Wales, took place in Caernarfon Castle, north Wales, on 1 July 1969. The ceremony formally presented the title of Prince of Wales to the 20-year-old Charles, eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. He was the 21st heir to the English or British throne to hold the title. The investiture was a revival of a ceremony which had first been used for the previous prince of Wales, Edward, in 1911. The 1969 event was watched by 500 million people worldwide on television, but it received opposition in particular from Welsh nationalist organisations.

Background

The title Prince of Wales is one that has traditionally been bestowed to the male heir apparent of the English or British monarch, since Edward I of England gave his son Edward of Caernarfon the title in 1284. The bestowal is not automatic, however, nor hereditary. Edward had been born in Caernarfon Castle in 1284, possibly a deliberate statement by Edward I to the recently conquered Welsh. The Prince of Wales title came with the royal lands in Wales, as well as the title Earl of Chester. The Prince of Wales spent five weeks in Caernarfon in 1301 but would never return again.

After rising against the English, native Welshman Owain Glyndwr proclaimed himself Prince of Wales in 1400 but, since his defeat in 1409, the title has reverted to a ceremonial one, given to heirs of the English throne.

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom made her eldest son, Charles, Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester by letters patent on 26 July 1958 when he was only nine years old. He was the 21st to be given the title. Elizabeth's uncle Edward, the future King Edward VIII, had been the previous Prince of Wales and had been invested in the title at Caernarfon Castle in 1911 before becoming King in 1936. The 1911 ceremony was a new invention, though using medieval symbolism, which would be repeated by Charles's investiture in 1969.

The investiture was preceded by a year-long promotional campaign called "Croeso '69" ( en, Welcome '69) designed to raise the profile of Wales and promote tourism. The UK's Labour government had ambitions to modernise Britain, including Wales where old industries were being replaced by new businesses and technology.

The 1911 gold coronet, having gone missing, needed to be replaced in 1969, though by one with a modern design. After the death of the Duke of Windsor – the former Edward VIII – in 1972, the old coronet was found in his possessions.

Ten days prior to the investiture, a documentary co-produced by the BBC and ITV called ''Royal Family'' was broadcast, showing the royals going about their everyday lives. It raised the royal family to the forefront of the public eye.

Event

Charles was formally invested with the title Prince of Wales at a ceremony at Caernarfon Castle on 1 July 1969. The event was organised by a specially established Investiture Committee, chaired by the earl marshal, Bernard Fitzalan-Howard, 16th Duke of Norfolk. With a growing national consciousness rising in Wales at the time, the investiture needed to celebrate both the pride in Wales and the current British monarchy.

Charles's uncle Lord Snowdon, being a professional photographer, arranged the ceremony to be television-friendly. The ceremony took place on a circular slate dais shielded by a large modern canopy of perspex which allowed the audience and television cameras to watch the proceedings.

Prior to the investiture, Charles spent nine weeks at Aberystwyth University learning to speak the Welsh language, taught by Welsh nationalist Dr Tedi Millward. Charles consequently was able to give a speech at the investiture, in Welsh and English, where he pledged "to associate imselfin word and deed with as much of the life of the Principality as possible".

For an hour prior to the arrival of the royal family, a procession of dignitaries and guests paraded through the town and entered the castle through the Water Gate, led by the king's heralds with a guard of honour of the Welsh Guards. Several dozen teenagers followed, representatives of Welsh youth. Then came the invited members of the House of Lords, the members and aldermen of Caernarvon Borough Council, members of the Gorsedd and the National Eisteddfod Court, chairmen of the 13 Welsh county councils, county sheriffs and the Welsh MPs. Church representatives arrived, then the prime minister, Harold Wilson, and his wife, Mary; the home secretary, James Callaghan; and the chiefs of staff of the armed forces.

Members of the royal family arrived in a fleet of four cars, led by the lord lieutenant of Caernarvonshire. Finally Charles arrived in an open carriage accompanied by his equerry, David Checketts, and the secretary of state for Wales, George Thomas, to a rendition of ''God Bless the Prince of Wales'' by the Band of the Welsh Guards.

In front of the invited audience of 4,000 people inside the castle, Charles came to the stage and knelt on a scarlet cushion. The secretary of state for Wales read the Letters Patent in Welsh as the Queen gave Charles a golden rod, a mantle, a sword, a girdle, the new coronet and a ring. The prince then took an oath, announcing:

The prince kissed his mother on the cheek before being led by the Queen to the balcony of the Queen's Gate to greet the crowds waiting outside the castle. He later sat himself on a throne, between two further thrones occupied by the Queen to one side and his father, the Duke of Edinburgh, sitting to the other side.

The ceremony was broadcast live on BBC
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