CHARLES’S INVESTITURE AND THE BOTCHED TERROR BOMBING

ROYAL nerves were on edge in July 1969, during the run-up to Charles’s investiture as Prince of Wales at Caernarfon Castle. Violence by radical Welsh nationalists was escalating: public buildings had been attacked with petrol bombs, death threats had been made to public officials — and there were warnings of more bombs.

The Queen, normally phlegmatic in the face of danger, told Prime Minister Harold Wilson that she feared for her son’s safety, and asked whether the ceremony should be cancelled. Wilson assured her that he’d do everything in his power to ensure it took place without incident.

All police were issued with firearms — although, fearing the worst, the BBC pre-recorded a full-length TV obituary of

Prince Charles. On the royal train to Wales, the Queen Mother jokingly told her grandson that the event was going ahead but he was going to be replaced by a stunt double. Her jovial remark did little to dissipate the tension.

‘Charles,’ according to Lord Snowdon, ‘was s*** scared.’ With justification. On the eve of the big day, two activists were killed by the bomb they were intending to plant on the railway track over which Charles would be travelling.

Then, half an hour before the investiture was due to start, there was a loud bang near the castle. The bejewelled and uniformed audience, already settled in their seats, tried to pretend they hadn’t heard it.