The Prince of Wales visits Wales

Today, The Prince of Wales visited the CAF train factory in Newport, Wales, where His Royal Highness met employees and learnt about the production process at the new facility. CAF offers a wide range of products that includes, among others, highspeed and very high-speed trains, regional and commuter trains (diesel and electric), metros, trams and locomotives. 

Later, The Prince arrived in his Aston Martin (which has been converted to run on the by-products of the cheese and wine industries!) at the new Aston Martin Lagonda factory. The Lagonda brand will be relaunched as the world’s first luxury electric vehicle company.

During the visit, His Royal Highness gave Aston Martin’s new SUV and DBX a test drive, and toured the factory floor.

This afternoon at the British Airways Maintenance Centre, The Prince joined celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the company. Opened by His Royal Highness in 1993, the facility now employs 550 local people in highly skilled engineering jobs. Alongside this, it runs a three-year apprenticeship programme on site where apprentices work alongside highly skilled engineers.

On a tour of the site today, His Royal Highness was shown inside an aircraft engine and learnt how engineers have made new aircrafts 25-40% more fuel efficient.

Following this, The Prince visited the Marie Curie Hospice in Cardiff and the Vale. His Royal Highness has been Patron of the charity, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary, since 2003. Kick-starting its UK-wide tour in Wales, The Prince became the first person to sign the charity’s Great Big Daffodil, which provides an opportunity to share stories, memories, messages or tributes of someone special.