Royals celebrate Prince Charles’ ‘tireless work’
The Queen and other members of the Royal Family have celebrated the Prince of Wales’s “tireless work” and “sacred duty of service” at an event to mark the 50th anniversary of his investiture.
The reception was held by Her Majesty at Buckingham Palace to celebrate 50 years since Prince Charles was invested as Prince of Wales.
Leading tributes to the heir to the throne, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said: “When you are second in the land, to serve is not automatic, human nature relishes leisure and privilege: serving requires discipline, values, a moral drive that sees service as virtue.
“Never in the history of the role can there have been such dedicated service, such honourable fulfilling of the promise at the investiture.”
He added: “The investiture was unique. Seldom can a coming-of-age have had such a setting; seldom can the weight of expectation have been so great.
“In years since then, we have seen how the honour of being granted that title has been richly repaid – in the Prince of Wales’s love for the country whose name he bears, and in the deep respect he has always shown for the land, for the language, and most of all, of course, for the people.”
The archbishop went on to say: “This Prince of Wales has guarded the sacred duty of service and kept the fire not only alight, but burning more brightly with the passing years.”
Prince Charles was surrounded by his immediate family at the reception, with the Queen, his wife the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and the Princess Royal all in attendance, in what can be seen as a symbolic gesture of support for the future king.
It isn’t often that we publicly see members of the Royal Family gather at Buckingham Palace to celebrate the personal achievements of a family member. At his 70th birthday party last November the Queen praised her son as “a dedicated and respected heir to the throne to stand comparison with any in history”.
Leading figures from Wales were also invited to the reception, including Falklands veteran Simon Weston, Game Of Thrones star Owen Teale and First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford.
Prince Charles wanted the event to celebrate the work of the charities and organisations that he supports in Wales, who were also represented at the event.
The Welsh rock band Stereophonics was given a grant by the Prince’s Trust to buy their first set of speakers.
Speaking at the event, frontman Kelly Jones said about Prince Charles: “I think he’s become almost part of the Welsh culture, he’s always been there.”
Explaining how he’d had his first ever beer at a street party for Charles’s royal wedding, Jones explained his surprise at being invited to the reception, saying: “I’m just enjoying being here, nice to be asked, it’s been quite a surreal circle really to get a few quid for some speakers and then 22 years later they’ve let us in here.”
It was on the 1 July 1969 that the Queen formally invested her son and heir with the title Prince of Wales at Caernarfon Castle. The Queen and other members of the family met some of those who were at the event, including Sir Nicholas Soames, who was equerry to Prince Charles at the time.
Talking about the day, he said: “It was the most beautiful ceremony, Lord Snowdon had created a sort of set within the walls of the castle that was very contemporary but the service is timeless, the investiture of a prince of Wales is one of the oldest services there is – and it’s very, very beautiful.
“Packed with people, a very solemn occasion but also a very joyous occasion.”
More events are expected to be held in Wales to mark the occasion later in the summer.
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