Call for Prince William, Kate Middleton to tour Wales amid title debate

A member of the Welsh Senedd has called for Princess Kate and Prince William to "undertake a tour of Wales" amidst ongoing controversy over their royal titles.

James Evans recently participated in The Royal Record podcast, addressing the views from Wales regarding Kate and William's official royal designations.

Cameron Walker, GB News's Royal Correspondent began by asking Evans his opinion on Kate and William, both 42, being titled as the "Prince and Princess of Wales".

He asked: "Plaid Cymru Senedd Group previously declared that the Prince of Wales title has, and I quote, 'No formal place or responsibility in Welsh life'. What do you think of that statement?"

Evans replied: "Well, I think the Prince of Wales and Princess of Wales titles are very important. It adds an awful lot to Welsh public life.

"There are a lot of causes out there that our current King supported, which benefited greatly from his patronage here in Wales."

King Charles was the Prince of Wales between 1969 and 2022, the longest-serving royal in that role.

Kate and William became the Prince and Princess of Wales after the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022.

Evans continued: "I was at the Brecon Show last weekend which had [the King's] patronage. We don't currently have a royal patron, so if the Prince and Princess of Wales are watching, I'm sure the Brecon Show would love to welcome them back as royal patrons.

"But the King supported those causes very nobly and I think it was very, very good and it totally enhanced that role. Since the King left that role, there has been a little bit of, 'Do we need it?'

"I think you always have to a bit of a stocktake, but I think the Welsh public want the role, they respect the role and I think it adds an awful lot to public life."

Svar Nanan-Sen, GB News's Digital Royal Editor, alluded to King Charles's investiture ceremony from 1969, which was met with a huge backlash at the time from the Welsh public.

He asked Evans: "There are currently no plans for Prince William to have an investiture ceremony as the Prince of Wales, do you think this is the right decision?"

Evans responded: "I think it's for him to decide what he wants. He is his own man, and I think he's he's a modern man.

"You've got to understand that when the last Prince of Wales, the King, had his investiture ceremony, there wasn't one done before.

"It was quite a new thing at the time when it was actually done in Caernarfon in North Wales, and it had a mixed reception then.

"No, I think what I'd like to have seen is a service in St David's Cathedral, a welcoming of the Prince and Princess of Wales to the country, and then a tour of the country going around to all parts - north, south, east and west to go around and meet the communities that the titles represent.

"I think that's very important. I would have liked to have seen something like that, perhaps not a full-blown investiture.

"There are those people who would have loved to have seen a full-blown investiture, but I don't think that's something that the current Prince of Wales would have wanted to do.

"As I said, I think we could have something and I hope we have something. But I think time is ticking on now, so whether that's going to happen is another thing."