Prince of Wales has no plans for formal investiture ceremony

The Prince of Wales has no plans to stage an investiture ceremony to formally mark receiving his new title, it has emerged.

William’s father was officially invested with the title Prince of Wales by the Queen during an event staged at Caernarfon Castle in July 1969.

During the elaborate ceremony the Queen placed a coronet on Charles’ head and helped arrange robes around his shoulders, and he pledged allegiance to his mother with the words: “I, Charles, Prince of Wales do become your liege man of life and limb.”

The Prince and Princess of Wales have begun their first visit to Wales since receiving their titles, travelling to Anglesey where they made their first home as newlyweds and where they took Prince George and Princess Charlotte during the Platinum Jubilee weekend.

It is understood William has no plans for “any kind” of an investiture like the ceremony staged for the King, and is focused on deepening the trust and respect of the people of Wales over time.

A royal source said in the aftermath of the Queen’s death: “The new Princess of Wales appreciates the history associated with this role but will understandably want to look to the future as she creates her own path.”

A few days after the Queen’s death, William spoke via telephone with Mark Drakeford, First Minister of Wales, a conversation where William mentioned his “deep affection for Wales”.

The prince, who served as an RAF search and rescue helicopter pilot when living on Anglesey with wife Kate, “expressed his and the Princess of Wales’s honour in being asked by the King to serve the Welsh people”.

Large crowds surrounded Holyhead Marina to greet the royal couple.

Among those waiting patiently for hours was four-year-old Theo Crompton – wearing his school tie and uniform – who was rewarded with the chance to present a bouquet of pink roses to Kate and also meet William.

His mother, Rebecca Crompton, 35, said: “We were actually on the way to school when I changed my mind and decided to bring him down here for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“And now he has just met the future king. Today’s visit is history. We had to be here.”

GP Hannah Sanders, 36, husband, Ed, 35, and their 12-day-old son Tomos, from Menai Bridge, were also in the crowd as Kate spotted Mrs Sanders cradling her newborn.

Mrs Sanders said: “She asked me how old he was and how he had been sleeping. She said she remembered having George here on the island when he was this sort of age.

“She told me to enjoy the time together and promised that sleep does get better.”

Michelle Challis-Jones, 50, from Holyhead, also spoke briefly to Kate who stroked the dog she was carrying, named Ollie.

Ms Challis-Jones said: “She said he keeps you warm, he’s like a hot water bottle. She was talking about her dog and they could have fun on the beach together.”

William and Kate were warmly welcomed by onlookers and received several rounds of applause and cheers.

William was heard to recall the couple’s first official engagement in 2011 after they announced their wedding when they launched a new RNLI lifeboat at Trearddur Bay, Anglesey.

He told crowd member Pauline Bentley: “She (Kate) smashed the bottle. It really works.”

Earlier they met crew and volunteers from Holyhead Lifeboat Station, one of the oldest on the Welsh coast, where over the years its members have received a total of 70 awards for gallantry.

The station’s president, Graham Drinkwater, 74, told the couple: “I was the youngest once and now I’m the oldest. I started in 1966 which was my first lifeboat call and 2002 was my last.

“There was no training when I started. You were thrown into the deep end.”

The station’s coxswain, Tony Price, told William and Kate about its new mental health welfare room on site.

He said to them: “We had an incident here in Holyhead where one of the crew gave CPR and tried to revive a person. Within the chaos and everything going on we realised we didn’t have a bolthole – somewhere our crew could go to look into that welfare.

“We now have a 24/7 helpline for the crew. The greatest thing they have done is when they (the crew) turn up now they can actually say ‘no, this is not for me’. I think that’s great.”

Volunteers recalled Storm Emma which wrecked Holyhead Marina in 2018 and destroyed 80 boats and vessels.

William said: “A bit of a dramatic year that one.”

He also discussed the storm with members of HM Coastguard who the royal couple met at the nearby Holyhead Marina and Cafe Bar.

The prince asked: “Was that predicted at the time?”

Deputy station officer at Holyhead Coastguard rescue team, Arwel Jones, replied: “We weren’t expecting the marina to be blown away.”

William also spoke to local sea cadets including Kian Evans who said he aspired to join the Marines.

When the youngster told him he enjoyed drills, the prince quipped: “I have not heard many future Marines say they like the drill. They usually avoid the drill.

“Well, you are looking very smart.”

Kian replied: “Thank you, sir.”

The couple met lifeboat crew member Mark Wade, 49, who told them he had once led the rescue of a Jack Russell dog which had fallen 30ft from a breakwater on to a bed of seaweed.

He said: “We managed to locate the dog, retrieve it safely and get it back to its owner.

“William and Kate were really interested in the different types of calls we get. This one sticks in the mind because we tend to go out to people, but this involved an animal.”

William and Kate also spoke to members of Holyhead Sailing Club and a number of tourist business owners.

They will visit Swansea later on Tuesday.