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
For the Honour of Wales as he had done for earlier works. For the Honour of Wales For the Honour of Wales was a masque written by Ben Jonson and first performed on 17 February 1618. It was written in honour of Charles Stuart, Prince of Wales. Jonson's previous work, "Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue", had been written to celebrate Charles's investiture as Prince of Wales in 1616, but the prince's father, King James I of England, had made no secret of the fact that he found it tedious. Jonson responded with this more entertaining work, which included comic scenes featuring stereotypical Welshmen. He drew on