DAY OUT: Caernarfon Castle, Conwy
Prince of the castle
The Prince of Wales was invested at mighty Caernarfon Castle, a fortress hailed as one of the greatest buildings of the Middle Ages, reveals Abigail Whyte
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 thee, to live and die against all manner of folks.”
On a hot midsummer’s day in 1969, Charles Mountbatten-Windsor uttered these words to his mother Queen Elizabeth II within the Caernarfon Castle grounds, marking his investiture as the Prince of Wales. It’s a ceremony the seaside town has hosted many times over the centuries – the first being that of Edward of Caernarfon, later to become Edward II.
It was his father Edward I who commissioned the castle to be built as part of a chain of fortresses (Ring of Iron) around Snowdonia to stamp English dominance on North Wales.
With its thick walls, fearsome King’s Gate and polygonal towers, Caernarfon was made to be impregnable. Today, it is a peaceful place to visit, and remains one of Britain’s most historically significant castles.
Abigail Whyte is a Herefordshire-based writer who loves to run, forage and swim.