The Investiture of the Prince of Wales - when Prince Charles was formally presented to the Welsh people as their Prince - was broadcast live on 1 July 1969.
The BBC brought all the pomp and pageantry to viewers and listeners in one of the biggest and most complex outside broadcasts since the Coronation. In the ceremony at Caernarfon Castle the Queen gave Charles the symbols that marked him as Prince of Wales; the sword, coronet, ring, rod and mantle. In addition to the 4000 guests present in the castle, 19 million saw it at home and another 500 million watched around the world.
Television coverage of the Investiture began on BBC One at 10:30am and continued until 4:30pm. At the same time it was broadcast in colour on BBC Two. The Investiture was a great demonstration of the benefits of the new medium and the number of colour sets in use doubled during the year. There was bilingual commentary on Radio 4 Wales with the main radio broadcast on Radio 3.
The BBC remains the first broadcaster audiences turn to for major national events, particularly those involving the Royal Family. The events surrounding the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012 saw extensive coverage as did – more recently - the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Further reading
MCR21 comes back to life
Charles Runcie tells the story of how an outside broadcast van used at the Investiture was saved from the scrapyard.
July anniversaries
Investiture of the Prince of Wales
1 July 1969
Masterchef
2 July 1990
BBC Television News and Newsreel
5 July 1954
To the Ends of the Earth
6 July 2005
Hancock's Half Hour television show
6 July 1956
London Calling Europe began
6 July 1941
The Old Man of Hoy
8 July 1967
The first episode of The Office
9 July 2001
Andy Pandy
11 July 1950
It's That Man Again
12 July 1939
Watchdog
14 July 1985
What's My Line
16 July 1951
Toytown first transmitted
19 July 1929
Pot Black first transmitted
23 July 1969
Countryfile first broadcast
24 July 1988
Start of the Light Programme
29 July 1945
Olympic Games from Wembley first televised
29 July 1948
The World Cup Final
30 July 1966
Dad's Army
31 July 1968
