Welsh council votes to abolish ‘archaic oppressive’ Prince of Wales title

A Welsh council has voted in favour of abolishing the Prince of Wales title as it doesn’t want to be ruled by a “billionaire from England”

The Plaid Cymru-led Gwynedd Council in North Wales also voted to insist any investiture of Prince William was kept “off Welsh soil”.

The meeting was held at the council chamber in Caernarfon - the town where King Charles III celebrated his much-feted investiture at the historic castle.

One councillor described the 1969 ceremony as “a circus” before adding “this nightmare is on us again”.

The meeting called for a referendum on whether the status of Prince of Wales should be abolished - with only Welsh people eligible to vote.

The motion eventually passed with 46 votes to four.

A second motion, which also passed, stated, “that the Council opposes any investiture being held in Gwynedd or anywhere on Welsh soil”.

Royal sources previously told The Telegraph that the Prince of Wales has no plans to stage an investiture to formally mark his new title.

Instead, he and the Princess are planning to focus on “gaining the trust and respect” of the Welsh people over time.

Councillor Elfed Wyn ab Elwyn, who initiated the anti-monarchy proposal, attacked the royal ceremony saying: “This archaic oppressive tradition is a blight on our nation and has been for centuries.”

Another councillor, Craig ab Iago, said: “If we had a blank page as to what type of person we want to lead us, would it be a billionaire from England, who doesn’t know anything about our language, or living or health services, education, or transport we use?

“One who does not support our football and rugby teams?”

He added that the title had been “created to humiliate Wales” and remind the country that “it is not independent”.

Cllr Jina Gwyrfai agreed, adding: “It is nothing short of a dictatorship. We are on our way to independence.”

The title has long proved controversial as the last Welsh Prince of Wales, Dafydd ap Gruffydd, was killed in 1283 on the order of Edward I of England, who went on to make his 16-year-old son, Edward II, the first English Prince of Wales in 1301 with an investiture at Caernarfon Castle.

The tradition of investiture at Caernarfon Castle was revived in 1911 when George V gave the title to his son, Edward.

Before then, such a ceremony had not taken place at the castle for several hundred years.

The King was officially invested with the title by the Queen in an elaborate ceremony, 11 years after he was made Prince of Wales.

He spent ten weeks at Aberystwyth University learning about the Welsh language and culture in preparation for the event.

The Queen placed a coronet on her son’s head before he pledged allegiance to his mother with the words: “I, Charles, Prince of Wales do become your liege man of life and limb.”

Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas, a former speaker of the Senedd, revealed last month that he had once told Prince Charles, as he was then, that he hoped there would never again be an investiture at Caernarfon Castle.