Charles III speaks in Welsh on his first visit to Cardiff as king

Sep. 16 () –

King Charles III thanked Wales for condolences on Friday after the death of his mother, Elizabeth II, with a speech of more than a minute in the local language, in an unprecedented gesture by a monarch.

The king thanked the condolences and stressed that Wales had “a special place” in the heart of his mother, who died on September 8 after seven decades on the throne. “As my dear mother, I will love this special land,” he has declared.

For most of this time, Charles III has served as Prince of Wales, a title that now falls to his eldest son, William, and which he described as a “privilege” in an address to Parliament.

Charles III has also attended a mass at Llandaff Cathedral and has met the Welsh Chief Minister, Mark Drakeford, at Cardiff Castle. In the vicinity, around a hundred anti-monarchist protesters have gathered, according to the BBC.

With the symbolic endorsement of the Welsh authorities for the new monarch, Carlos III concludes a tour that has taken him through all the territories that make up the United Kingdom. On Sunday, he will receive foreign leaders at Buckingham Palace who will attend the state funeral in memory of Elizabeth II on Monday.