After Prince William was given the title of the Prince of Wales by father King Charles III, he is opening up about his Welsh experience and how he hopes to serve the community.
The Duke of Cambridge, 40, spoke about his new moniker with local politician Mark Drakeford on Sunday, September 11, where he gushed about the country.
“The Prince acknowledged his and the Princess’s deep affection for Wales, having made their first family home in Anglesey, including during the earliest months of Prince George’s life,” Kensington Palace said in a statement on Sunday about the nature of the conversation. “The Prince and Princess will spend the months and years ahead deepening their relationship with communities across Wales.”
The statement added: “They want to do their part to support the aspirations of the Welsh people and to shine a spotlight on both the challenges and opportunities in front of them.”
After the 73-year-old sovereign ascended the throne following the Thursday, September 8, death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, he formally passed down his previous titles to William.
“Today, I am proud to create him Prince of Wales, Tywysog Cymru, the country whose title I have been so greatly privileged to bear during so much of my life and duty,” Charles said in his first address as the reigning monarch on Friday, September 9, noting that William’s wife, Princess Kate, would be referred to as the Princess of Wales. “With Catherine beside him, our new Prince and Princess of Wales will, I know, continue to inspire and lead our national conversations, helping to bring the marginal to the center ground where vital help can be given.”
William and Kate, 40, also took over his father’s Cornwall duchy, making them the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall. They will also retain their Cambridge titles, which were a 2011 wedding present from the late queen.
The married couple’s new titles carry historical significance for the duchess in particular as William’s late mother, Princess Diana, was the last individual to be called the Princess of Wales.
“It has a huge emotional weight,” royal expert Gareth Russell exclusively told Us Weekly on Friday. “Princess Diana had such a great impact across the world with both her charisma and her fame and also her humanitarian and charitable activities. But the title [of Princess of Wales], you know, was used by many people before Diana, and … it is now being used afterward.”
The historian added: “I think it is quite moving for a lot of people that the last person to hold [the Princess of Wales title] was William’s mother and now it’s his wife. I think it puts a good kind of pressure [on the Cambridges] because it brings a lot of the … emotional collateral charisma that Princess Diana had … and invests that title with a certain emotional appeal to people.”
Charles’ Friday speech also confirmed that his wife would be known as Queen Consort Camilla throughout his reign.
