Investiture of the Prince of Wales The tradition of investing the heir apparent of the English, and subsequently the British, monarch with the title of "Prince of Wales" began in 1301, when King Edward I of England, having completed the conquest of Wales, gave the title to his heir apparent, Prince Edward (later King Edward II of England). Investiture is not necessary to be created Prince of Wales. Peers were also invested, but investitures for peers ceased in 1621, at a time when peerages were being created so frequently that the investiture ceremonies became cumbersome. Most investitures for Princes of Wales were held in front of
HMS Prince of Wales (1860) by Frank Brangwyn, a print of which can be seen in Bruges' Groeningemuseum today. HMS Prince of Wales (1860) HMS "Prince of Wales" was one of six 121-gun screw-propelled first-rate three-decker line-of-battle ships of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 25 January 1860. In 1869 she was renamed HMS "Britannia" and under that name served at Dartmouth as a cadet training ship until 1905. The "Prince of Wales" was originally a 3,186 ton 120 gun design by John Edye and Isaac Watts for a modified "Queen"-class sailing line-of-battle ship. She was laid down at Portsmouth on 10 June 1848,