This year marks Prince Charles' 50th anniversary (!) as the Prince of Wales. His duties officially began after he participated in a ceremony called an investiture of the Prince of Wales, similar to the Queen's coronation, in 1969 at the Caernarfon Castle. Season three of The Crown will feature the ceremony Charles referred to as "very impressive," according to Town Country. His mother, Prince Philip, Princess Anne, and Princess Margaret were all in attendance.
During the investiture, Prince Charles gave a speech in Welsh and English, beginning in Welsh and then switching to English. He reportedly studied Welsh at—you guessed it—the College of Wales to prepare for it.
Following the investiture, Charles noted: "For me, by far the most moving and meaningful moment came when I put my hands between Mummy’s and swore to be her liege man of life and limb and to live and die against all manner of folks—such magnificent medieval, appropriate words, even if they were never adhered to in those old days."
Spoilers for season 3. The Crown's depiction of Charles' time in Wales and the investiture is mostly true, although we can assume that the specific interactions are not. In the episode, Charles, who is happy and thriving at Cambridge University, is reluctant to spend a term in Wales—and when he gets there, finds many people there even more unfriendly than he had dreaded. But Charles noted later that his time in Wales had been transformative (he studied under Welsh nationalist Edward Millward, which even Millward described as a "surprising" choice, and the two developed a mutual respect for one another, which is shown in the episode), and Charles has remained attached to the country, making repeated visits and even buying land there in his later years.
You can listen to Charles' full speech here and watch season three of The Crown premiering on Netflix on November 17.
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