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
Coronet of Charles, Prince of Wales the ex-king with effectively stealing the coronet, which would be returned to the United Kingdom after his death in 1972. Since the 1902 coronet was unavailable, and the Coronet of Frederick, Prince of Wales was judged unusable due to its age, a new coronet had to be made for the investiture of Charles, Prince of Wales. He had been created Prince of Wales in 1958 but the formal investiture ceremony was held a few months before his 21st birthday. Today, the defunct Coronets of Frederick and George are part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom on display at