Working in the UK
The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall undertake a wide range of engagements throughout the UK.
Wales
His Royal Highness has had a long and enduring relationship with Wales since becoming Prince of Wales at the age of nine. Prior to his investiture at Caernarfon Castle on 1st July 1969, The Prince, who was at Cambridge University at the time, spent a term in Aberystwyth learning Welsh. The Prince still often uses Welsh when opening and closing a speech in Wales.
His Royal Highness pays regular visits to Wales as well as undertaking a week of engagements each summer. The Prince and The Duchess attend important national occasions in Wales, such as the opening of the Senedd, the new Welsh Assembly’s debating chamber in Cardiff Bay on St David’s Day, 1st March 2006.
The Prince’s Charities are very active in Wales: 5,000 young people in Wales each year are supported by The Prince’s Trust; PRIME Cymru has helped well over 1200 people aged over 50 to start their own business; Business in the Community Cymru has 300 businesses of all sizes engaged across Wales and has raised over £1.2 million of in kind support for some 690 community projects; and The Prince’s Regeneration Trust is helping to preserve heritage buildings such as Denbigh Hospital.
The Prince is Patron of a number of Welsh charities and organisations such as the Welsh Black Cattle Society, the Welsh Culinary Team, Ty Hafan: the children’s hospice in Wales, the International Eisteddfod in Llangollen and the Welsh National Opera. He is also Chancellor of the University of Wales.
In 2000, The Prince revived the tradition of having an official harpist in order to foster Welsh talent on the harp, the national instrument of Wales. Since then, there have been two official harpists: the current postholder, Jemima Phillips, and Catrin Finch who has been a highly successful recording and performing artist.
In November 2006, The Duchy of Cornwall bought a property in Wales in Llwynywormwood, Myddfai, Llandovery, Carmarthenshire.
The property will be used regularly by The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall when they are in Wales. Click here to read more.
Every year The Prince’s Annual Review is translated into Welsh. Click here to visit the Welsh section of this website.
Scotland
The Prince and The Duchess share a fondness for Scotland, spending time in the country both carrying out public engagements and privately at their Birkhall residence on the Balmoral estate in Aberdeenshire.
Every summer, The Prince and the Duchess carry out a week of engagements during their annual stay at the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
The Prince’s Charities contribute a great deal to life in Scotland: The Prince’s Trust Scotland has helped 30,000 people in Scotland since it was founded in 1976; the Prince’s Scottish Youth Business Trust has helped more than 8,200 young people to start up around 6,900 businesses; The Prince’s Regeneration Trust is actively involved in preserving Scotland’s built heritage with successes such as the former spinning mill Anchor Mill in Paisley; and Scottish Business in the Community (SBC) encourages businesses to promote responsible business practices for the benefit of the community. There are also plans to develop the work of The Prince’s health charity, the Foundation for Integrated Health, and the new Prince’s Teaching Institute in Scotland.
In 2005, The Prince launched the North Highland Initiative (NHI) to promote and develop the economy and support the rural communities of the far north of Scotland.
The first stage of the initiative involved the creation of the Mey Selections food brand, selling locally reared meat and other produce, which has realised £150,000 of additional income for local farmer members; the second involved Pleasure in the Extreme, a newly launched tourism brand based around the physical and environmental extremes that exist in the North Highlands.
The third phase of the project will concentrate on breathing new life into the area’s valuable built heritage.
The Prince is Patron of a number of Scottish based organisations such as the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Wildlife Trust, Aberdeen Angus Cattle Society, Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland, Caithness Heritage Trust, Glasgow School of Art and the Gordon Highlanders Museum.
The Prince is also Patron of Sabhal Mor Ostaig on the Isle of Skye, Scotland’s only Gaelic college. Every year The Prince’s Annual Review is translated into Gaelic. Click here to visit the Gaelic section of this website.
Northern Ireland
The Prince visits Northern Ireland regularly and many of his charities are active in the province.
In May 2006, Their Royal Highnesses officially opened Northern Ireland’s first Regional Acquired Brain Injury Unit and toured the new complex meeting patients and staff. They also attended a garden party hosted by Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain at Hillsborough Castle.
They also paid a Christmas visit to Belfast in 2005 to attend a reception for beneficiaries of The Prince’s Trust.
More than 220 companies are members of Business in the Community Northern Ireland and help to make a positive contribution to the environment, workplace, society and the economy.
Five Northern Ireland companies were recognised for making a positive impact on society through Business in the Community’s National Awards for Excellence in 2006.
Arts and Business works to encourage collaboration between business and the arts in Northern Ireland. The Prince is Patron of The Royal Ulster Constabulary GC Foundation.
England
As well as conducting many of their engagements each year in England, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall also attend a number of important national occasions in England.
Many of these are ceremonial, for example the events to mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar which included the International Fleet Review in June 2005. The Prince and The Duchess watched from the bridge of HMS Scott as the largest gathering of naval ships in peacetime – an armada of 167 ships from the Royal Navy and 35 other nations – sailed past along the Solent.
In addition, The Prince is Patron of a number of specifically English organisations such as the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), the Safer London Foundation, the Mary Rose Trust, the Sussex Cattle Society, the Turner Society, Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust, Age Concern England, the Elgar Foundation and Taste of the West which promotes produce from the South West of England.
As Duke and Duchess of Cornwall Their Royal Highnesses make regular visits to the South West of England and are both Patron to a number of charities and organisations based in the region.