Palace left in shock as Prince William cancels grand ceremony

Prince William, who has big plans to change the monarchy, surprised the Firm when he rejected the idea of holding a major ceremony, a stark contrast to what his father King Charles had done.

Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Charles ascended to the throne and he passed down the title of Prince of Wales to his eldest son and heir to the throne. The King’s courtiers had made plans to hold a ceremony at St David’s Cathedral in Pembrokeshire, West Wales, but it was all cancelled.

When it had been Charles’s time, it was a grand ceremony held at Caernarfon Castle to announce his promotion. This ceremony was broadcast live to 19 million people in the UK and 500 million across the world.

Hence, William’s plans caused quite a frenzy behind Palace doors, according to royal author Robert Hardman.

“On becoming Prince of Wales, he [William] had not only ruled out an investiture, like his father’s in 1969, but even a church service,” he revealed in his book In Elizabeth II: In Private. In Public. The Inside Story.

He shared that notion had been such a novel concept that the Government went as far as consulting Plaid Cymru, the Welsh nationalist party, about the ceremony plans to make sure there was no objection. However, the “idea never progressed beyond the desk of Prince William”.

A member of Prince William’s team said that it “wasn’t ever something that he wanted to do”.

Prince William and Princess Kate instead celebrated their new titles with a visit to Anglesey, where they lived for three years after getting married, and Swansea.