Prince of Wales
The eldest son of the reigning monarch of Great Britain is traditionally invested with the title of Prince of Wales. This tradition began in 1301, when King Edward I of England, having completed the Norman conquest of Wales, gave the title to his heir, Prince Edward (later King Edward II of England). The apocryphal story that the king promised the rebellious Welsh natives "a prince born in Wales, who did not speak a word of English", and then produced his infant son, was not written down until the sixteenth century. However, Edward II certainly was born at Caernarfon, while his father was campaigning in Wales.
Prior to the conquest of Wales, only a handful of native princes had claimed the title of Prince of Wales, the country having been divided into smaller principalities for most of the post-Roman period. In 1258, the title was claimed by Llywelyn the Last, Prince of Gwynedd, having been briefly held by his uncle, Dafydd ap Llywelyn, who was recognised by King Henry III of England as rightful ruler.
The title is officially a part of the establishment of the Order of the Garter, and is within the gift of the sovereign, who is under no compulsion to bestow it. But unlike other elements of the Garter, the Princedom of Wales can be bestowed upon the eldest son of the sovereign and nobody else. If a Prince should predecease the Sovereign, the principality does not pass on to his heirs; instead, it revests in the Crown. An exception to this rule occured in 1751, when HRH Prince George, Duke of Edinburgh (later King George III) was bestowed the title of Prince of Wales shortly after the death of his father, HRH Prince Frederick, Prince of Wales, by his grandfather King George II
The Prince of Wales is styled His Royal Highness (HRH). The same style is given to the Princess of Wales, by virtue of her marriage. However, as was shown in the case of Diana, Princess of Wales, the style lapses if a Prince and Princess divorce, as it is only hers by virtue of marriage to the Prince of Wales, not in her own right.
The regalia of the Prince of Wales are known as the Honours of the Principality of Wales. The motto is Ich dien (German: 'I serve'; see the article on Edward, the Black Prince).
The holders of the title have been:
| Prince of Wales | Parent | From | To
|
| Edward | Edward I | 1301 | 1307 (acceded as Edward II)
|
| Edward, the Black Prince | Edward III | 1330 | 1376 (death)
|
| Richard of Bordeaux | Edward, the Black Prince | 1376 | 1377 (acceded as Richard II)
|
| Henry of Monmouth | Henry IV | 1399 | 1413 (acceded as Henry V)
|
| Edward, Duke of Cornwall | Henry VI | 1453 | 1471 (death)
|
| Edward Plantagenet | Edward IV | 1470 | 1483 (acceded as Edward V)
|
| Edward, Duke of Cornwall | Richard III | 1483 | 1484 (death)
|
| Arthur, Duke of Cornwall | Henry VII | 1486 | 1502 (death)
|
| Henry, Duke of Cornwall | Henry VII | 1502 | 1509 (acceded as Henry VIII)
|
| Henry, Duke of Cornwall | James I | 1603 | 1612 (death)
|
| Charles, Duke of Cornwall | James I | 1612 | 1625 (acceded as Charles I)
|
| Charles, Duke of Cornwall | Charles I | 1630 | 1649 (acceded as Charles II)
|
| James Francis Edward Stuart | James II | 1688 | 1689 (father's deposition)
|
| George Augustus, Duke of Cornwall | George I | 1714 | 1727 (acceded as George II)
|
| Frederick Lewis, Duke of Cornwall | George II | 1727 | 1751 (death)
|
| George | Frederick | 1751 | 1760 (acceded as George III)
|
| George, Duke of Cornwall | George III | 1762 | 1820 (acceded as George IV)
|
| HRH Prince Albert Edward | Victoria | 1841 | 1901 (acceded as Edward VII)
|
| HRH Prince George, Duke of Cornwall | Edward VII | 1901 | 1910 (acceded as George V)
|
| HRH Prince Edward, Duke of Cornwall | George V | 1910 | 1936 (acceded as Edward VIII)
|
| HRH Prince Charles, Duke of Cornwall | Elizabeth II | 1958 |
|
See also
