Skip to content

Buckingham Palace event marks Prince of Wales' 50 years

Getty Images Investiture anniversaryGetty Images
Prince Charles was joined by members of the Royal Family

Members of the Royal Family have gathered at Buckingham Palace to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the investiture of the Prince of Wales.

Welsh charities, organisations and businesses were celebrated at the reception on Tuesday.

It comes after a poll for BBC Wales suggested 50% of participants wanted another prince of Wales when Prince Charles becomes king.

Although 22% of those surveyed do not think he should be replaced.

62% of participants in Wales did not want the monarchy abolished and the research indicated 18% disagreed and wanted to see and end to the monarchy.

Getty Images Investiture anniversaryGetty Images
The investiture regalia was on display at the event

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duchess of Cornwall, along with Prime Minister Theresa May and Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford, were among the guests at the event honouring Prince Charles's contribution to Wales.

Getty Images The investiture of Prince Charles in 1969Getty Images
The regalia worn by Prince Charles was on show at the celebration

The Stereophonics, who were supported by the Prince's Trust in their early days, were also at the event, as was Games Of Thrones star Owen Teale.

Prince Charles became Prince of Wales aged 9 in July 1958 and was formally invested with the title by the Queen in July 1969 at Caernarfon Castle.

The investiture regalia he wore was on display, including the coronet, sword, ring and rod, as well as the Letters Patent for the creation of Charles as Prince of Wales in 1958.

Dominic Lipinski/AFP/Getty Images Prince Charles, Owen Teale and Wynne EvansDominic Lipinski/AFP/Getty Images
Actor Owen Teale (centre) and singer Wynne Evans (right) were among the guests at the event

The BBC poll suggested if there was a new prince of Wales, 41% of participants wanted to see an investiture similar to the one held in Caernarfon.

But 20% hoped to see a ceremony different to that in 1969, while 30% wanted no investiture at all.

Allow Twitter content?

This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read  and  before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

Mark Drakeford's attendance at the event was a matter of controversy in the National Assembly for Wales on Tuesday.

It meant he could not attend the weekly's First Minister's Questions session. Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price said "the priority for the first minister is to be here to answer questions [from] the elected representatives in Wales".

Rural Affairs Minister Lesley Griffiths, standing in for Mr Drakeford, told the chamber: "Everybody would want the first minister to represent Wales in the way that he is doing."

Tory group member Mark Reckless said he was "delighted" Mr Drakeford was at the celebration and it would have been "awful" if he had not attended.

ICM Unlimited interviewed a representative sample of 1,000 adults aged 18+ by telephone on 7-23 February 2019. Interviews were conducted across Wales and the results have been weighted to the profile of all Welsh adults. ICM is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.

The Changing Face of Wales season runs across BBC Wales television, radio and online in March - looking at what it means to live in Wales and to be Welsh at a time of unprecedented change.