The Prince and Princess of Wales arrived in Pembrokeshire today (September 8) where they met local communities in and around St Davids, and also commemorated the life of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II with a small private service at the Cathedral, marking the one-year anniversary of her passing.
St Davids has been a site of pilgrimage and worship for over 1,400 years, since St David, the patron saint of Wales, settled there with his monastic community in the sixth century.
The present cathedral dates from 1181 and welcomes around 300,000 visitors every year. It is the only UK cathedral where, since the Reformation, the Sovereign has had a special stall in the Quire among the members of the Chapter, and Her Late Majesty sat there on four occasions during her visits to St Davids over the years.
Their Royal Highnesses’ joined a short private service which included a commemoration of Her Late Majesty’s life, before meeting members of the local community in the adjacent cloister.
The guests included local people who met Her Late Majesty during her visits to the city.
The Prince and Princess of Wales then visited the Câr-Y-Môr Seaweed Farm–the first ‘regenerative ocean farm’ in Wales and a key partner of Notpla, the sustainable packaging start-up and winner of the 2022 Earthshot Prize for ‘Build a Waste-Free World’.
Câr-Y-Môr, which translates to ‘For the Love of the Sea’, is a community benefit society which aims to improve the coastal environment through regenerative ocean farming. The company also supports the local community through job creation, supply of fresh local seafood and environmental restoration.In June 2022, following two years of research, the company installed a three-hectare ocean farm where various species of seaweed, mussels, native oysters, and scallops are grown.
Notpla, which produces plastic-free consumer packaging made from seaweed and plants,i s a key investor in Câr-Y-Môr. Among its innovations, Notpla replaces plastic-lined takeaway boxes and other disposable plastic items such as cutlery.
The London-based start-up won the 2022 Earthshot Prize in the ‘Build a Waste-Free World’ category and received a visit by The Prince of Wales in May 2023.
Their Royal Highnesses met staff and volunteers to hear about the impact the farm’s work is having on the ocean environment, before taking a boat out onto the farm to see the seaweed lines.
The Prince and Princess of Wales then made a visit to the RNLI Lifeboat Station at St Davids where they met crew, volunteers and those who have been supported by their local unit.
Situated on the spectacular coastline of South-West Wales, the St Davids Lifeboat Station has been launching lifeboats since 1869 and underwent a refurbishment from 2014 to 2017.
The new station has benefitted from modern facilities and improved access for bringing in equipment and evacuating casualties. St Davids has a strong history of bravery within its crews, having been awarded with 14 medals for gallantry.
Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was Patron of the RNLI from 1952 until her death last year.