Prince and Princess of Wales: William and Kate's Anglesey 'refuge'
- Published
Catherine and William chose their first official public duty as an engaged couple to be on Anglesey
When Flt Lt Wales was doing his helicopter training to become an RAF search and rescue pilot in 2010, like his fellow trainees he gave two preferences for his first posting.
One was in Lossiemouth, in north east Scotland, and the other at Valley on Anglesey, off the north west coast of Wales.
It was to the second that he was sent, and that decision could yet prove crucial in his new role, 12 years later.
For of course, Flt Lt Wales is rather better known as Prince William.
Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince William is heir to the British throne, and has been created the new Prince of Wales by the former holder of the title, King Charles III.
William takes on the title at the age of 40, making him 31 years older than his father was when he took on the role.
The now King Charles was just nine when he officially heard he was to become the Prince of Wales via a television broadcast at school, when the Queen made the announcement on camera at the end of the Empire Games in Cardiff in 1958.
Prince William with his crewmates at RAF Valley
Prince Charles was later sent off to study at Aberystwyth University for a number of months to learn some Welsh ahead of his investiture as Prince of Wales at Caernarfon Castle in 1969.
The ceremony was not well received by those in Wales who felt there was no longer a place for an English prince with few links to the country gaining a title last held by a Welshman, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, in 1282.
When Prince William arrived in Wales in 2010, it was as a working member of a community helping to serve those around him.
First official engagement
Within just a month or so of starting work on Anglesey he and his girlfriend of nine years, Catherine, announced their engagement, and that their marital home would remain on the Welsh island once they were married in the spring of 2011.
They asked for their first official engagement as a couple to be on the island, and went on to dedicate a new lifeboat at the RNLI station at Trearddur Bay in February 2011.
During the visit, Prince William spoke of working alongside RNLI volunteers during life-saving rescues at sea, and it was this image of being part of local life which was to persist through the three years the couple lived there.
It was a very different starting relationship with Wales from that which his father had experienced, according to Welsh historian Prof Merfyn Jones.
Catherine and William chose their first official public duty as an engaged couple to be on Anglesey
"Clearly the Royal Family were not going to repeat these difficult times with William, when he was much the same age - a bit older - and so his introduction to Wales was very, very different, working from RAF Valley as a helicopter pilot, living locally," he said.
"People did bump into him in the supermarkets and so on - it was a very, very different experience [to Charles' time at Aberystwyth].
"And so one has to conclude to some extent at least this was a deliberate way of William getting to know Wales and for Wales to get to know him but in a very low-key way, in a very relaxed sort of manner.
"And it appears that it has been remarkably successful, both locally in Anglesey and more generally in the response of the British public to William, who is clearly extremely popular with the people of Britain."
The couple at Halen Mon, which has won sustainability awards for its salt-making, when they revisited their former home in 2019
Gwilym O Jones, an Anglesey councillor and former chair of the council, remembers former colleagues of his who moved to work at RAF Valley as civilian staff calling William an "ordinary guy".
"He was very popular, you know, he was one of the boys. Obviously people in the area were interested when they heard that he was coming to Anglesey of all places."
Mr Jones said Prince William was often seen in the local community, adding: "He lived in a very low-key way in a very relaxed manner.
"People were pleased to see him, [they] were very pleased to see his wife as well, obviously.
"There's a go-karting circuit not far from the RAF base and he was seen there; he was seen on his way to work in the morning calling in [to the local shop] for a newspaper, things like that.
Catherine, then Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince William, then Duke of Cambridge, start The Ring O'Fire Anglesey Coastal Ultra Marathon in 2013
"They weren't hounded by the press and the media. They were allowed to do their own thing. I think that's why they really enjoyed their stay in Anglesey."
He was present at the last official engagement on Anglesey before the couple moved back to England, when William was officially opening the Ring of Fire ultramarathon event in 2013 shortly after the birth of his first son.
'The crowd went wow'
"Kate hadn't been seen [in any official capacity] because Prince George had been born about four weeks prior to this moment. I remember all of us standing in a line waiting for the crew to arrive. This Range Rover arrived, Prince William came out, very informal, and he opened the door and Kate appeared as well," he said.
"The crowd went 'wow'," he said, adding: "They were really made up with this."
William showed his workplace to the Queen and Prince Philip during their visit to the island in 2011
The Duchess and Duke of Cambridge, as they were then, met up with the Menai Bridge Scouts again on a return visit in 2019
Sue Hesketh, Cubs leader at 1st Menai Bridge, got to know Catherine after she did some voluntary work with the group, and met the couple again when they returned to visit the island in 2019.
She recalls the initial response when it was announced Prince William was to come to Anglesey as being one of some interest and in some cases pleasure because it was hoped his arrival at RAF Valley's search and rescue team might help avoid its closure (it eventually ceased operations in 2015 and was taken over by a civilian contractor).
But equally, she said: "Otherwise, I don't think there was a huge amount of interest. People in this area are not that wildly enthusiastic [about royalty], if you know what I mean."
Sue thinks the more tempered response to their presence among some sections of local society might actually have helped them enjoy a quieter life.
"They did regard Anglesey as a refuge. They could get on with their lives. They enjoyed the fact they could do that without people making a fuss."
The Royal couple explored Newborough Beach during a visit in 2019
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