Their Royal Highnesses visit Wales

Day One

BBC Cymru Wales

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall visited BBC Wales’s new Headquarters and launched the broadcaster’s public tours. BBC Cymru Wales is the national broadcaster for Wales producing output across TV, radio and digital platforms in both English and Welsh.

Their Royal Highnesses were greeted by the choir of Mount Stuart Primary School, of which Betty Campbell was Headteacher. From there His Royal Highness visited the main studio, home to many of BBC Wales’s programmes including Scrum V and Match of the Day Wales.

The Prince then created an audio recording of ‘Under Milk Wood’ in the Dylan Thomas Radio Studio; and visited the set of BBC Wales Today. 

Finally, His Royal Highness will visited the four-floor garden area where he met the BBC Climate and Science team.

Meanwhile, The Duchess joined a discussion about women working in media. The Duchess also met staff and students from the Welsh hub of the National Film and Television School. Her Royal Highness then visited the set of Crimewatch Live where spoke with the team about their work, with a particular focus on the programme’s work tackling violence against women.

Their Royal Highnesses concluded their visit by officially opening the building with guests treated to a performance by the BBC National Orchestra for Wales.

Betty Campbell Statue

Their Royal Highnesses took time to visit the new statue of Betty Campbell, commissioned by Monumental Welsh Women and members of Betty Campbell’s family, following her death in 2017. Betty Campbell was the first black woman to become a headteacher in Wales. As headteacher at Mount Stuart Primary she championed the nation’s multicultural heritage.

In 1994, The Prince of Wales met Betty during a visit to her school.

I have fond memories of my visit to the St. David’s Day eisteddfod at Mount Stuart Primary School in 1994, when I saw, at first-hand, the immense respect and affection in which Betty Campbell was held by all who knew her.

RISE Cardiff

The Duchess of Cornwall visited domestic and sexual violence charity, RISE Cardiff, where she met with staff and volunteers as well as women who had been helped by RISE.

The Queen Dragoon’s Guards

The Prince of Wales visited 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards at Cardiff City Hall in his role as their Colonel-in-Chief. Here His Royal Highness received the salute as the Regiment marched past on parade.

The Prince of Wales then presented medals to several of the Guards, including The Regimental Mascot, Welsh Mountain Pony, Lance Corporate Jones.

Following the presentations, His Royal Highness joined a reception with serving personnel, their families, Regimental Trustee and Museum staff.

Treorchy High Street.

For their final visit of the day Their Royal Highnesses visited the shops and businesses of Treorchy High Street before joining members of the community in The Lion pub. 80% of the shops on Treorchy High Street are independently and locally owned and in 2019 it won Visa’s Great British High Street awards.  

Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama performance at Llwynywermod

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall hosted an evening of music and drama, that celebrating Welsh Culture, performed by the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. This performance was followed by a Diplomatic Reception where representatives from 10 countries with major economic and social links to Wales were present, along with leading figures from Welsh public life, including The First Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford.

Day Two

Millbrook Primary School Library

The Duchess of Cornwall, Patron of National Literacy Trust, visited Millbrook Primary School to officially open their new school library, as part of The National Literacy Trust’s nationwide Primary School Library Alliance campaign.

In the school hall, The Duchess was joined by authors, illustrators and children for live readings and a draw-along. 

The Duchess’ Birthday Books Project was also announced, which will provide 25,000 children from 75 primary schools in disadvantaged areas across the UK, with a wellbeing and happiness-themed ‘Kinderbox’ or mini library.

Botanic Gardens of Wales

The Prince of Wales, as Patron of the National Botanic Garden of Wales, visited the Gardens to view oak saplings which will be planted to mark the Platinum Jubilee. 
 

Jamie’s Farm

The Duchess of Cornwall, Patron of Jamie’s Farm since 2014, visited Jamie’s Farm, Monmouth, where she toured the farm and met funders and trustees. 

The Monmouth farm was purchased in 2016 and has enabled Jamie’s Farm to extend their programme to an additional 450 disadvantaged young people and approximately 100 members of teaching staff each year.

The Duchess then met students and cooking staff in the kitchen where farm produce is made into healthy, well-balanced meals.

Finally, in the outdoor kitchen, The Duchess met with Bees for Development, an organisation that makes people’s live better through beekeeping and therefore gives an incentive to conserve biodiversity. The Duchess has been President of Bees for Development since 2020. 
 

Day Three

St Govan’s Chapel
 
On his final day in Wales, The Prince of Wales travelled to St Govan’s Chapel, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and the 10th anniversary of the Wales Coast Path, as well as the 200th anniversary of HM Coastguard.
 

Here His Royal Highness met Park Authority Officers, who are responsible for maintaining the National Park, and who play a leading role in The Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme in the area, as well as meeting Officers from the Maritime & Coastguard Agency. 

Narberth

The Prince of Wales also went to the market town of Narberth, where he visited an array of independent shops in the town’s High Street, including many family-owned businesses and artisan producers.
 

During his visit, His Royal Highness also viewed the iconic Narberth Town Hall and Hwb – a new street food venue based in the old primary school building.

University of Wales

The Prince of Wales, Patron of the University of Wales, joined celebrations for the University’s 200th anniversary at the Trinity Saint David Campus. 

The Prince of Wales began his tour of the campus in the Chinese Library which is dedicated the University’s Academy of Sinology, before attending a short choral performance in the Chapel.
 

His Royal Highness then presented a small number of Honorary degrees in the University’s Great Hall and met with scholarship students from St Vincent and the Grenadines, whom His Royal Highness has supported since their education was disrupted by natural disasters on the islands last year.
 

His Royal Highness concluded the visit by unveiling a plaque to commemorate the University’s anniversary.

Hay Castle

The final visit of that day took The Prince of Wales to Hay Market Square, where he welcomed by the sound of Brecon Town Band.

His Royal Highness then climbed the stairs to the main Gate where, by opening the 12th Century gate, he officially opened Hay Castle. This is the first time the castle has been open to the pubic in its 900-year history. 

Throughout the tour, His Royal Highness met members of the Hay Castle Trust team, architects, trustees, donors and volunteers, who have all played their part in this major restoration project. He even tried his hand at printing using a Victorian printing press!