Prince visits Llewelyn's coffin

Prince Charles is shown Llewelyn the Great's coffin in St Grwst Church

Prince Charles has viewed the coffin that once held the remains of the most powerful Welsh prince to rule over medieval Wales.

He made the trip to St Grwst Church at Llanrwst, Conwy, which holds part of Llewelyn the Great's coffin.

He appeared pleased to learn that he was a distant relative of the 13th Century ruler through his grandmother.

The prince also marked the opening of a visitor centre at the nearby National Trust's Bodnant Gardens.

Charles had the chance to glimpse what remains of the coffin of Llewelyn the Great as he was shown around St Grwst church, which itself dates back to 1470, and the adjoining Gwydir Chapel.

Llewelyn was the dominant ruling force across much of Wales for 40 years during the 13th Century.

Through political manoeuvring and sheer brute force, his control spread out from Gwynedd to much of Wales, at times reaching to Carmarthen and Kidwelly.

Prince Charles planted a tree alongside two planted by his parents in 1977

He died in 1240 and was buried at a Cistercian abbey in the Conwy Valley, however his remains disappeared.

All that remained was the bottom half of his stone coffin, which is now held at the Llanrwst church.

A crowd of 250 people, cheering and waving Welsh flags, greeted Prince Charles's arrival in Llanrwst.

He spent 30 minutes in the 17th Century chapel, looking at the elaborate wooden ceiling, and enquiring about how the sarcophagus came to be at the chapel.

The Reverend Lynette Norman, of St Grwst, explained to the prince how the royal connection was made between Llewelyn the Great and the late Queen Mother, who was a member of the Bowes-Lyon family.

"I told him that Llewelyn's daughter married a Scottish prince who is an ancestor of the Bowes-Lyon family.," she said.

"He was very pleased."

In his capacity as president of the National Trust, Prince Charles also unveiled a plaque to mark the official opening of the visitors centre at nearby Bodnant Gardens.

He followed in the footsteps of both the Queen and Prince Philip, by planting a tree next to those planted by his parents when they visited as part of Silver Jubilee celebrations in 1977.

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