Prince of Wales

The eldest son of the reigning monarch of Great Britain is traditionally invested with the title of Prince of Wales. This tradition began in 1301, when King Edward I of England, having completed the Norman conquest of Wales, gave the title to his heir, Prince Edward (later King Edward II of England). The apocryphal story that the king promised the rebellious Welsh natives "a prince born in Wales, who did not speak a word of English", and then produced his infant son, was not written down until the sixteenth century. However, Edward II certainly was born at Caernarfon, while his father was campaigning in Wales.

Prior to the conquest of Wales, only a handful of native princes had claimed the title of Prince of Wales, the country having been divided into smaller principalities for most of the post-Roman period. In 1258, the title was claimed by Llywelyn the Last, Prince of Gwynedd, having been briefly held by his uncle, Dafydd ap Llywelyn, who was recognised by King Henry III of England as rightful ruler.

The title is officially a part of the establishment of the Order of the Garter, and is within the gift of the sovereign, who is under no compulsion to bestow it. But unlike other elements of the Garter, the Princedom of Wales can be bestowed upon the eldest son of the sovereign and nobody else. If a Prince should predecease the Sovereign, the principality does not pass on to his heirs; instead, it revests in the Crown.

The Prince of Wales is styled His Royal Highness (HRH). The same style is given to the Princess of Wales, by virtue of her marriage. However, as was shown in the case of Diana, Princess of Wales, the style lapses if a Prince and Princess divorce, as it is only hers by virtue of marriage to the Prince of Wales, not in her own right.

The regalia of the Prince of Wales are known as the Honours of the Principality of Wales. The motto is Ich dien (German: 'I serve'; see the article on Edward, the Black Prince).

The holders of the title have been: