King Charles: Uni friend branded undue influence in letter

Geraint Evans, a self-described Welsh nationalist, shared a halls of residence with the future King

King Charles III's university halls of residence neighbour in the 1960s said a letter was written about him saying he was a bad influence on the prince.

Geraint Evans' room was adjacent to the future King at Aberystwyth University during his 10-week stay in 1969 as he learned Welsh ahead of his investiture.

"I was vetted, but I only discovered this afterwards," he said.

The self-described Welsh nationalist was shocked when the letter was made public in 1999 under the 30-year rule.

"I found out that the Secretary of State for Wales, a person called George Thomas, had written a letter to (then Prime Minister) Harold Wilson.

"He suggested that Harold Wilson should speak to the Queen about the 'undue influence' that the neighbour might be having on Prince Charles.

"It was absolutely staggering. [George Thomas] wrote it in his own hand so that his civil servants wouldn't see the letter."

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King Charles spent a term studying at the university in the months before his investiture as Prince of Wales, in the hope that that he would learn more about Wales and the Welsh language.

King Charles had a crash course in Welsh before he was made Prince of Wales in 1969

The decision was controversial, with some welcoming the move but others seeing it as a symbol of the oppression and conquest of Wales.

"It was a bold move," Mr Evans said.

"I think the students did forget that he was he was a royal.

"The students didn't pay all that much attention, but when he would go down from the halls of residence to town to have his lectures, then you would see people gathering outside the college to see him.

"There wasn't a great opportunity for socialising and maybe there was an atmosphere of the whole thing being rather staged."

Mr Evans recalled how the then-prince visited his parents' home in nearby Tal-y-bont for tea, but had to be accompanied by a police escort.

"One of the points of him being there was to meet Welsh people and to acclimatise to what it was like to be in Wales," he said.

"He arrived, and several more of my colleagues from university came along. The policeman came as well. I suppose just in case we put something in the tea.

"In the end it was a very happy occasion. I hope it was memorable for him.

"It was a memorable occasion for my parents and for my fellow students."