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
Prince of Wales York. Prior to his father inheriting the English throne in 1603, the future Charles I was created Duke of Albany and Earl of Ross in Scotland. Both Prince Frederick (eldest son of George II) and his son Prince George (later George III) were Duke of Edinburgh. The title Prince of Wales is given only to the heir apparent—somebody who cannot be displaced in the succession to the throne by any future birth. The succession had followed male-preference primogeniture, which meant that the heir apparent was the eldest son of the reigning monarch or, if he was deceased, "his" eldest son