Heir To Throne Invested As Prince Of Wales

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32029, 2 July 1969, Page 1

Heir To Throne Invested As Prince Of Wales

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter— Copyright)

CAERNARVON, July 1.

Prince Charles, heir to the British Throne, was formally invested as Prince of Wales today in a traditional ceremony at Caernarvon Castle, Wales.

Queen Elizabeth placed a gold coronet on the head of her eldest son, to appoint him Prince of Wales and heir to the Throne.

The moment was the climax in an ornate ceremony by which the Queen presented the 20-year-old Charles to the 2,800,000 people of Wales as their own Prince—and as the future monarch of more than 850 million subjects in Britain and the Commonwealth.

Before an illustrious gathering of 4000 in Caernarvon Castle, and an estimated television audience of 500 million, the crowned Prince knelt and placed his hands between those of the Queen.

Then he declared the I traditional oath: “I I Charles, Prince of Wales, Ido become your liege I man of life and limb and I of earthly worship, and I faith and truth I will I bear unto you to live and die against all manner of folks.” Caernarvon, a town of 9200, was crowded with an estimated 200,000 visitors from all over the world to see the English Prince invested by his mother. Queen Elizabeth H, as the liege of this nation of 2,500,000 bards, poets, coalininers, and great choral singers. Greeted By Cries. ' Prince Charles, aged 20, -was greeted by cries of “Long Dive the prince of Wales” as he disembarked from the overnight train that bed brought him and his family to Caernarvon from London. • Then the Prince, in the number one blue uniform of the Royal Regiment of Wales, < with peaked cap, climbed into an open horse-drawn car- 1 riage for the two-mile drive > through the packed streets of 1 the town of the castle. < The carriage was used by hi s great-great-great-grand-mother, Queen Victoria, at her golden jubilee in 1887.

> Queen Elizabeth, her hus- [ band, the Duke of Edinburgh, ( and Princess Anne, their eld- > est daughter, rode in an open | carriage. [ The Queen Mother, Queen [ Elizabeth, and Princess Mar- | garet rode in another carri- . age. ' Guns boomed an almost constant salute as the Royal family were driven to the ' castle, Prince Charles’s carriage escorted by 41 horsemen. Poetry Read The cheering crowds, jammed 10 deep on the pavements, belied the mood of anxiety created by a wave of extremist protests against the investiture of an Englishman as Prince of Wales. In Caernarvon, music was relayed from the castle to the crowds outside, and poetry was read in English and Welsh. The sun broke fitfully through the clouds. Crowds at the railway station cheered the arrival of the “V.I.P. special” from London, whose passengers included 60 ambassadors. 23 Commonwealth High Commissioners, two acting High Commissioners and 16 charges d’affaires. Youth Symbol The Prince drove through the castle gates and walked slowly through the inner castle. As he walked, State trumpeters sounded a fanfare from the battlements of the Eagle Tower, while the Prince’s personal flag fluttered above. Royal heralds and peers escorted him across the courtyard and the assembled throng sang “God Bless the Prince of Wales.” Also in his escort were Welsh teen-agers, symbolising youth.

The Queen's carriage, drawn by four white horses, reached the castle a few minutes after the Prince.

At the water gate, now closed, she went through the ancient ceremonial by which a monarch gains admission to the Welsh stronghold. Her uniformed equerry knocked thrice on the bolted door and demanded entry in the name of the Queen. The Constable of the Castle, the Queen's brother-in-law. Lord Snowdon, descended the steps bearing a large key on an oak tray. She touched the key, returned it to Lord Snowdon and after a formal exchange!

between them the gates swung open.

Prince Charles was meani while waiting in the Eagle Tower for the Queen’s sumi mons. With the Queen’s ar- . rival the formal investiture . ceremony was about to begin. I Two Men Die ! Two men died early today • trying to blow up a local ’ government office near Caernarvon only hours before the investiture. Police said the men were carrying gelignite when it ' exploded. The incident happened at i Abergele, a town of 5000 in- , habitants, 30 miles from ’ Caernarvon on the North Wales coast. The two men killed in the Abergele blast were named as ; William Alwyn Jones, aged 27, married with one young : child, and George Taylof, married with three children. Both worked for the Abergele Urban District Council. Three young men were questioned by police but later released. There were dozens of bomb hoaxes during the morning. Police found at least three dummy bombs—sticks of modelling clay wired to alarm clocks. Shrewsbury Castle, onetime stronghold against the Welsh, was evacuated after two youths were seen hiding cases in undergrowth beneath the castle walls. It turned out they were simply leaving their luggage in a safe place while they went for a cup of coffee.

The Royal train carrying Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles and the rest of the Royal family to the ceremony was halted three times during the night near the Welsh ■ border while police investigated dummy bombs on the track.

Railway signal wires and telephone cables along the railway track were cut on the Welsh side of the border. In the Welsh cities of Swansea and Bangor, a newspaper office and a post office were evacuated this morning while police investigated telephoned bomb threats. , Both turned out to be hoaxes.

A marquee for investiture celebrations was burned down at Pwllheli, a North Wales coast resort 20 miles from Caernarvon.

English wording on road direction signs was obliterlated with white paint on at least four major junctions on the main road into North Wales.