The "English" Prince of Wales

And here, rather cruelly, is the lad himself. In fact, I'm not condemning Charles any more than I would any of his predecessors in a title which was eventually passed off as a kind of "con trick" on the Welsh people.

The old story, still told in school history text books when I was a boy, is that Edward of Caernarvon, son of Edward I and born at Caernarvon, was presented as a baby before the Welsh chieftains as their "Prince, who could not speak a word of English", and that they rallied to him enthusiastically. All baloney, of course. For one thing, there were virtually no Welsh "Chieftains" left by 1284. They had been either killed or disposed. And secondly, whilst Prince Edward could certainly not speak English, neither could he speak Welsh. In fact, its quite likely that the only language he ever spoke fluently was French.

The title "Prince of Wales" was not created as a compliment to the Welsh, but rather as a symbol of the addition of conquered Wales to Edward Ist's planned united British Isles under the Plantagenets. And this would remain its main association for the remainder of the medieval period and indeed beyond, though being made use of from time to time as an assurance of the Crown's affection" for Wales when, for example during the Hundred Years War, and much later in the 17th century Civil War, the Crown wanted to raise troops in Wales.

Even as late as the outbreak of World War I, the then Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) was employed in similar fashion to whip up recruits in Wales.

Until Prince Charles learnt a few words for his Investiture, no "Prince of Wales", (except, maybe,
the future Henry V, and possibly Prince Arthur, son of Henry VII) actually spoke Welsh. Many seldom, if ever, set foot in Wales. Charles wasn't the first to be invested at Caernarvon; his ill-fated uncle, Edward VIII, was also invested there in a ceremony upon which the one for Charles was closely modelled.

Charles' Investiture aroused more controversy than previous ones partly because Welsh Nationalism was by 1969 a significant political force in the country. The Investiture was also largely organised by the then Secretary of State for Wales, George Thomas, a Cardiff politician who was regarded as being one of the "Taffia" -the group of prominent Welsh people in various fields who were seen by many to have "sold out" to the London government and "establishment".

As well as peaceful protest, the Investiture also led to a campaign of arson and bombings by a group calling itself the "Free Wales Army". At any rate, this was the "front" organisation, although more shadowy activists were aloso involved. The violence culminated the day before the Investiture when two men were killed when the bomb they were attempting to plant on the rail line to be used by the Royal train exploded prematurely. They are still held by some to be political "martyrs"


The Investiture was largely an English and Welsh "establishment" affair. Holding it at Caernarvon, symbol of English conquest and rule, was probably more the result of ineptness than a deliberate slight, though it was seen by many as being the latter.

Well, that's the view of the "Princes of Wales" held by an English historian with strong Welsh sympathies. It would, I'm sure, be possible to present a case arguing the opposite!