WALES, PRINCE OF, is the title usually borne by the eldest son, or heir apparent, of the British king or queen. This title originally distinguished the native princes of Wales ; but after the entire cou quest of Wales and its union with England, the title was transferred to the sons of the kings of England. Henry 111., in the 39th year of his reign, gave to his son Edward (afterwards Edward I.) the prin cipality of Wales and earldom of Chester, but rather as an office of trust and government than as a special title for the heir apparent to his crown. There is a tradition that Edward, when he became king, to satisfy the national feelings of the Welsh people, promised to give them a prince without blemish on his honour, a Welshman by birth, and one who could not speak a word of English. In order to fulfil his promise literally, he had sent his queen, Eleanor, to be confined at Carnarvon Castle, and he invested with the principality her son, Edward of Carnarvon, then an infant, and caused the barons and great men to do him homage. Edward was not at that time the king's eldest son, but on the death of his brother Alphoneo he became heir apparent, and from that time the title of Prince of Wales has ever been borne by the eldest son of the king. The title, however, is not in herited, but is conferred by special creation and investiture; and has not always been given immediately after the birth of the heir apparent. Edward 11. did not create his son Prince of Wales till he was ten years old, and Edward the Black Prince was nut created until he was about thirteen.
The eldest son of the king is by inheritance Duke of Cornwall. Edward the Black Prince was first created duke of Cornwall on the death of John of Eltham, his uncle, who was the last earl of Cornwall ; and by the grant under which the title was then conferred, in the 11th Edward III., the dukedom is inherited by the eldest living son and heir apparent. If the duke succeed to the crown, the duchy vests
in his eldest son and heir apparent ; but if there be no eldest son the dukedom remains with the king, the heir presumptive being in no case entitled to it. The Black Prince was also created by his father earl of Chester and Flint. By the statute 21 Richard II., e. 9, the earldom of Chester was erected into a principality, and it was at the same time enacted that it should be given only to the king's eldest son. Although that statute, with all the others in that parliament, was repealed by the 1st Henry IV., c. 3, the earldom has ever since been given together with the principality of Wales.
The antiquity of the title of Prince of Wales and its regular succes sion are, as it were, a confirmation of the parent's present right and of the prince's own nearness in succession to the crown. Thus on the death of Edward the Black Prince, Edward III. immediately made his grandson Prince of Wales. Richard III., as soon as he came to the throne, created his son Prince of Wales, in order to strengthen his usurpation. Henry VII., again. on the death of his son Arthur, created his next son, Henry, Prince of \Vides. Henry VIII., having no son, created his daughter Mary, Primes of Wales ; and after her illegitimation, his next daughter, Elizabeth. Each of them in suc cession had only been heiress presumptive, yet they bore the title, being then next in succession to the crown.
The titles now borne by the eldest son of the sovereign as heir of the crowns of England and Scotland, are "Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester, Duke of Cornwall and Rothsay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles, Great Steward of Scotland." (Selden's Titles of Honour, part ii. c. 5; Connack's Account of the Princes of Wales, Svo. 1751.)