Independence: Wales decision ‘must be respected’ says Drakeford

The Welsh public would be asked whether they wanted the British Royal Family to remain a part of Wales if the country became independent, Express.co.uk has been told.

It comes as the Royal Family is engaged in a PR battle with young people across the UK as it tries to convince them that it is a force for good.

The most recent YouGov data show that only three in ten young people think the Royal Family is good for Britain, and the majority of those aged 18-24 said they held a negative opinion of King Charles.

Tensions flared up in Wales earlier this year when Charles passed his title of the Prince of Wales to his son, William, without the consolation of the public.

Yet, support for the monarchy remains strong in some parts of Wales, something that the new leader of Plaid Cymru Rhun ap Iorwerth says he recognises and so would ask the people of his country first before deposing the age-old establishment.

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“The Prince of Wales was actually an old constituent of mine in Ynys Mon,” he tells Express.co.uk. “There are different views about the Royal Family, I have my own as a Republican, but I appreciate that other people have other opinions.”

Among other policies, Plaid Cymru’s main goal is to lead Wales to independence and end its dependency on Westminster.

Adam Price, the former Plaid leader who quit earlier this year after a review found a “toxic” culture in the party, previously told Express.co.uk that the only way for the country to prosper was to be free of Westminster rule.

However, this will come with several complications, one of which includes the royals’ place in Welsh public life.

While former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon promised that an independent Scotland would keep the English monarch in place, Mr ap Iorwerth says he has “separated the two issues” of the royals and matters such as the economy.

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“Our plans to build a better Wales not just after independence but from now are about building a strong economy, a better education system, a better health system, and then moving along that journey — it’s quite separate to people’s opinions about the Royal Family.

“I work very closely with the Commonwealth Fund and the chair of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, and within that Commonwealth, there are all sorts of relationships, where some countries have the King as their head of state while some have become republics.”

But does it mean an independent Wales under Mr ap Iorwerth would boot the English royals out of Wales? “It’s totally up to the people of Wales,” he says.

“That would be a decision for the country. I’m certainly not blind to the fondness that many people have for the Royal Family.”

That fondness is fairly concrete. Data collected by Focaldata in 2019 showed that more than 50 percent of people in many local authorities in Wales supported the Royal Family.

A handful of areas did, however, fall below the 50 percent mark, like the Cynon Valley, the Rhondda Valley, Caerphilly, Pontypridd, Blaenau Gwent, Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, all places from which coal mining and the industrial revolution extracted vast quantities of natural resources.

Other areas also fell below the 50 percent mark, including Ceredigion, Arfon and Dwyfor Meirionnydd, both Plaid Cymru strongholds.

In September 2022, after William was made Prince of Wales, Tristan Gruffyd posted a petition to Change.org entitled, ‘End “Prince of Wales” title out of respect for Wales’.

It has gained more than 40,000 signatories since then, and while Mr Gruffyd didn’t expect as many people to sign, he told Express.co.uk: “A lot of people have come to understand the symbolism and what this title might mean for Wales since the Queen passed away, and they now understand the power it still holds.”

At the time, Andrew RT Davies, leader of the Welsh Conservatives since 2021 having previously served in the position between 2011 and 2018, dismissed any notion of Wales turning its back on the Royal Family and championed the monarchy.

“I go back to the example that the new King Charles III used in the chamber here in the Welsh parliament not so long ago. He said, Ich dein, I serve, which are the words inscribed on the Prince of Wales’ feathers,” he told Express.co.uk.

Wales did have a native royal family before the ‘English’ monarchy — kings and queens imported by the Normans — imposed its rule on the country before the 12th century.

Several bloody and brutal battles saw Wales’ princes lose out and the last native Prince of Wales, Llewelyn ap Gruffyd, was finally beaten by King Edward I at the Battle of Orewin Bridge in 1282.

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