News about Charles Prince

Kneeling in front of his mother with his sword at his side, Prince Charles vowed that he would be her 'liege man of life and limb' 55 years ago today. It was a solemn promise that the Prince of Wales - as he was then - would live up to in the decades he spent as the heir of Queen Elizabeth II. At Caernarfon Castle on July 1, 1969, Charles made history as his mother placed his futuristic coronet on his head while 4,000 invited guests saw the proceedings in person and a further 500million people around the world watched on television. But the terror threat from Welsh nationalists (inset, an Army bomb disposal van outside Caenarvon Castle the day before the ceremony) was so high that the BBC recorded obituary tributes to the 20-year-old future King in case he was assassinated. In the early hours of the morning of July 1, two militant nationalists were killed by their own bomb in the town of Abergele, on the route of the royal train. Another bomb planted in a Caernarfon police constable's garden also went off, and activists hiding in the crowd hurled eggs at the Queen's horse-drawn carriage. However, the proceedings were ultimately a success - Charles fulfilled the first part of his destiny and millions across the nation and the world were buoyed by the spectacle.