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 (53) HMS Prince of Wales (53) HMS "Prince of Wales" was a "King George V"-class battleship of the Royal Navy, built at the Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead, England. She was involved in several key actions of the Second World War, including the May 1941 Battle of the Denmark Strait against the German battleship "Bismarck", operations escorting convoys in the Mediterranean, and her final action and sinking in the Pacific in December 1941. "Prince of Wales" had an extensive battle history, first seeing action in August 1940 while still being outfitted in her drydock, being attacked and damaged by German aircraft.