Investiture: King would not want Prince ‘to go through what I went through’
King Charles III would not want the new Prince of Wales, William, to go through what he did during his 1969 investiture, Wales’ first Presiding Officer said on Monday.
King Charles III used his first public address as King, to appoint Prince William the new Prince of Wales.
Nearly 25,000 people have signed a petition opposing the passing on of the controversial title to Prince William.
Charles’ investiture at Caernarfon castle in 1969 drew protests including Cymdeithas yr Iaith’s non-violent mass protests, to more direct threats from the the Free Wales Army and Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru.
Appearing on ITV Wales’ current affairs programme Sharp End, former Minister for Culture, Tourism and Sport Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas shared details of conversations he had with the-then Prince Charles.
Presenter Rob Osborne had asked panel guests whether, given the protests during the 1969 investiture, they thought the announcement last Friday was made to limit the debate or the discussions of anyone who would oppose it.
“I don’t know the answer to that”, Lord Elis-Thomas said, “but I can tell you in discussions with him when he was still Prince of Wales, when I had cultural responsibilities in the Welsh Government, one of the issues I did raise with him was that I hoped there would never again be an investiture in Caernarfon Castle.
“[Prince Charles] laughed and said: ‘Do you think I want to put William through what I went through?'”
Low key
A “low key” investiture for the Prince of Wales could happen in Cardiff next year after the King’s Coronation, it has been reported.
The Telegraph newspaper reports that this time a “low key” investiture could take place at Cardiff Cathedral – perhaps meaning Llandaff Cathedral – instead.
The First Minister has said he was not told there would be a new Prince of Wales before King Charles’ announcement and says there’s no rush to investiture so that “a debate” can be had.
The leader of Plaid Cymru Adam Price has said that any decision over the investiture of the new Prince of Wales should be made in Wales.
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Well tell them they’re an irrelevance and not welcome. We don’t want to go through it again, either.
Since Cardiff was not in the historic Principality of Wales it’s an odd place to hold any sort of investiture. The principality covered those areas that were not marcher lordships, i.e. not south Wales.
They obviously think there won’t be any protests in Cardiff, and that they will be welcomed with open arms there.
Clever move on the part of the Establishment to have Charles declare his son Prince of Wales before the debate had resumed following his mam’s passing, making it a fait accompli. They’ll pick their moment for the investiture, too, after a lengthy period of monitoring which way the political wind is blowing in Cymru.
If England beat Wales in Qatar, my advice to them is “Put it on the back burner”…
I wouldn’t call it clever.
They knew people would not be able to respond due to the period of “purdah” that had emerged in the aftermath of the Queen’s death. People were explicitly told to be quiet or risk being accused of being disrespectful. That period of purdah is now over and the gloves should be off.
What he did was contemptible, however in doing so, he may divide opinion amongst moderate royals who had expected a discussion and would ordinarily have given William their blessing.
Then a low key backdoor investiture of a bloke deemed a prince of a Wales by his dad it may end up then. Similar to Idi Amin of Uganda declaring himself King of Scotland in the late 70’s, he’ll be nothing more than a fantasising foreign dignitary to most of us.
Head of the English football association rammed down our throats as some creepy Disney villian. Says it all. Easier to protest in Cardiff for most of the population.
Poor Charles was forced to spend a term studying in Aberystwyth. Violins uncased.
The first investiture of an English prince as POW took place in Lincoln in 1301. Let the investiture take place there.
There is no need for there to be an investiture. Prince of Wales is just titular with no particular rights or responsibilities. The ceremony was only invented in 1911 for the future Edward VIII and only done a second time for Charles in 1969.
If anyone’s reading this in KC3’s office, just make William “Royal Ambassador to Wales”.
A friendly gesture which would be well recieved. Forget the other if you don’t want trouble.
Hmmm…. How about letting the people of Wales decide whether they want an English Prince of Wales or not. We live – supposedly – in a democratic country. Why not give us the vote!!
Constitutional Monarchy = Constitutional Dictatorship!!
What he went through, lol. Is he taking the proverbial or what? An easy way for William not to go through the terrible time his poor delegate father endured is to refuse the title Prince of Wales so we don’t have to suffer another 43 yrs of royal shirkers. using & abusing Wales to their own end.