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ing engraved with Welsh dragons, the velvet mantle and the coronet. As the Home
Secretary, James Callaghan, intoned the Letters Patent – ‘Elizabeth the Second by the
Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland… by these
Our Letters Do make and create our most dear Son Charles Philip Arthur George Prince
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Duke of Cornwall and
Rothesay Earl of Carrick Baron of Renfrew Lord of the Isles and Great Steward of
Scotland Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester…’ – Elizabeth invested her son with the
insignia and he then knelt in an act of homage. Placing his hands between hers, he
swore: ‘I, Charles, Prince of Wales, do become your liege man of life and limb and of
earthly worship, and faith and truth I will bear unto you to live and die against all
manner of folks.’
Charles later said he found this moment extremely moving, while Elizabeth told
George Thomas that it had been a ‘wonderful day’. Thomas’s response was significant:
‘… it was a far greater triumph than we had a right to expect. He really was the Prince
Charming. Wales has been in a state of euphoria, and at least half a million dollars
came to Caernarvon itself.’ The previous Prince of Wales had taken a more realistic
view: ‘I got the impression that if I did what was asked of me, it would help Papa in his
dealings with the difficult Mr Lloyd George.’ The ceremony of 1911 had been designed
to boost the ruling party, that of 1969 was to boost the monarchy. It succeeded because
it was evident that the Queen and the Prince believed in what they were doing. It might
have been planned as a public relations exercise by their advisers, but to them it was
part of their job as icons of the continuing myth of monarchy. Royalty have to believe in
that myth or they will not be convincing; it is their way of communicating with the
people. Via the television cameras their sincerity came across and the ceremony evoked
the uplifting wave of emotion which is the raison d’être of such occasions. The investiture
at Caernarvon was part of an unprecedented public relations campaign to relaunch the
monarchy.