February 7, 1301: Edward of Caernarfon is Created Prince of Wales

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King Edward II of England and Lord of Ireland was born in Caernarfon Castle in North Wales on April 24, 1284, the son of King Edward I of England and Lord of Ireland and Infanta Eleanor of Castile daughter of King Fernando III of Castile and Joan, Countess of Ponthieu.

Edward of Caernarfon was born in North Wales less than a year after Edward I had conquered the region. The king probably chose Caernarfon Castle deliberately as the location for Edward’s birth as it was an important symbolic location for the native Welsh, associated with Roman imperial history, and it formed the centre of the new royal administration of North Wales.

King Edward II of England and Lord of Ireland

One of the last independent Princess of Wales was Llywelyn ap Gruffydd (Llywelyn the Last), who was killed at the Battle of Orewin Bridge in 1282.

His brother, Dafydd ap Gruffydd, was executed the following year. After these two deaths, Edward I of England invested his son Edward of Caernarfon as the first English Prince of Wales on February 7, 1301.

The title was later claimed by the heir of Gwynedd, Owain Glyndŵr (Owain ap Gruffydd), from 1400 until 1415 (date of his assumed death) who led Welsh forces against the English. Since then, it has only been held by the heir apparent of the English and subsequently British monarch. The title is a subject of controversy in Wales.

Coat of Arms of the Prince of Wales

According to conventional wisdom, since 1301 the Prince of Wales has usually been the eldest living son (only if he is also the heir apparent) of the King or Queen Regnant of England (subsequently of Great Britain, 1707, and of the United Kingdom, 1801).

The title is neither automatic or heritable; it merges with the Crown when its holder eventually accedes to the throne, or reverts to the Crown if its holder predeceases the current monarch, leaving the sovereign free to grant it to the new heir apparent (such as the late prince’s son or brother).

King Charles III of the United Kingdom

Since 1301, the title ‘Earl of Chester’ has generally been granted to each heir apparent to the English throne, and from the late 14th century it has been given only in conjunction with that of ‘Prince of Wales’. Both titles are bestowed to each individual by the sovereign and are not automatically acquired.

The current sovereign, King Charles III of the United Kingdom, was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester on July 26, 1958. He was the longest serving Prince of Wales for 64 years and 44 days from his creation as Prince of Wales in 1958 until his accession to the throne on September 8, 2022.

HRH The Prince of Wales

King Charles III was also heir apparent for longer than any other heir to the throne in British history.

Upon the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, on September 8, 2022, Charles became King and the title, along with other titles connected to the Prince of Wales merged with the Crown. The following day, King Charles III bestowed the title Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester upon his elder son, Prince William, Duke of Cornwall and Cambridge.

On This Date in History: July 1, 1969. Formal Investiture of HRH The Prince of Wales

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On This Date in History: July 1, 1969. Formal Investiture of HRH The Prince of Wales.

The death of George VI, grandfather of the Prince of Wales, and the accession of his mother as Queen Elizabeth II on February 6, 1952 made Charles her heir apparent. As the monarch’s eldest son, he automatically took the titles Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland. These titles are hereditary and are traditionally inherited by the eldest son of the monarch.

The Titles Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester are not hereditary and therefore have to be recreated anew for each heir to the throne. The Queen created Charles Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester on July 26, 1958, though it was decided the formal investiture would not be held until 1 July 1969, when he was older.

Charles was crowned by his mother in a televised ceremony held at Caernarfon Castle. He took his seat in the House of Lords in 1970, and he made his maiden speech at a debate in June 1974, becoming the first royal to speak in the Lords since his great-great-grandfather, later Edward VII, whom also spoke as Prince of Wales, in 1884.

Charles is the longest-serving Prince of Wales, having surpassed the record held by Edward VII on September 9, 2017. He is the oldest and longest-serving British heir apparent, the longest-serving Duke of Cornwall, and the longest-serving Duke of Rothesay. If he becomes monarch, he will be the oldest person to do so; the current record holder being William IV, who was 64 when he became king in 1830.

Ever since Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland set the standard that the Prince of Wales should wear a coronet, even designing how it should look, Prince’s of Wales have traditionally worn a coronet ever since.

A relatively modest coronet was made in 1728 for Frederick-Louis, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of George II. As mentioned, this coronet takes the form laid down in a royal warrant issued by Charles II which states that the heir apparent of the Crown shall use and bear a coronet of crosses and fleurs-de-lis with one arch surmounted by a ball and cross. The single arch denotes inferiority to the monarch and shows that the prince outranks other royal children, whose coronets have no arches.Frederick-Louis never wore his gold coronet; instead, it was placed on a cushion in front of him when he took his seat in the House of Lords. It was used by his son, George III, then his son, George IV, and last used by Edward VII when he was Prince of Wales.

Coronet of Frederick-Louis, Prince of Wales

Due to its age, a new silver-gilt coronet was made for his son, the future George V, to wear at Edward’s coronation in 1902. In contrast to the earlier coronet, which has a depressed arch, the arch on this one is raised. At George’s own coronation in 1911, the coronet was worn by his son, Edward, the next Prince of Wales. After he became king in 1936, Edward VIII abdicated later the same year and, as the Duke of Windsor, went into exile in France, taking the 1902 coronet with him; it remained abroad until his death in 1972. In its absence, another coronet had to be made for the investiture of Prince Charles in 1969. Unlike the defunct coronets, this one is not a part of the Crown Jewels but the Honours of the Principality of Wales.

Design

This new coronet follows the form laid down by King Charles II in 1677 by having just one arch rather than the traditional two arches or four half-arches of British monarchs’ crowns to show that the Prince of Wales is inferior to the monarch but outranks the other royal princes and dukes. Though based on this traditional design, the coronet has a futurist look that was popular in the 1960s, and it was created by the eccentric designer Louis Osman.

In the centre of the arch is a monde (a gold-plated ping-pong ball) engraved with the Prince of Wales’s insignia by Malcolm Appleby, surmounted by a plain cross. Orbiting the monde are 13 square diamonds set in platinum arranged as the constellation of Scorpio – the Prince of Wales’s star sign. Within the 24-carat textured gold base is a purple velvet cap lined with ermine. Around the base are four crosses and four abstract fleurs-de-lis in 22-carat gold (Mined in the Mawddach Valley in Merionethshire, it was the last Welsh gold held in stock by Johnson Matthey.) sparsely decorated with diamonds and emeralds. The diamonds on the base are intended to represent the seven deadly sins and the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.[7]In total, the coronet has 75 diamonds and 12 emeralds – green being the national colour of Wales – and weighs 1.36 kilograms (3 lb). It measures 26.5 centimetres (10.4 in) tall and 28.8 centimetres (11.3 in) in diameter at the widest point.

Coronet of Charles, Prince of Wales.

When Osman unveiled the coronet in London, he described it as “something that is modern.” Personally, I think this coronet is hideous!

Usage

The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths presented the coronet to Queen Elizabeth II for the investiture at Caernarfon Castle on 1 July 1969. The Prince of Wales has not worn his coronet since his investiture; the coronet was carried before him when he took his seat in the House of Lords in 1970. The coronet was loaned to the National Museum and Gallery of Wales by Queen Elizabeth II in 1974. It was placed into storage at St James’s Palace, London in 2011.