Patron: HRH The Prince of Wales

As Patron of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, I am delighted to pay tribute to an organisation that has enriched the artistic, literary and scientific life of Wales for over two hundred and fifty years. In seeking to promote Wales’s cause, it has played a leading role in the establishment of many of Wales’s main modern institutions such as the National Library, the National Museum, the University of Wales, the National Eisteddfod and the Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales.

With its roots in eighteenth-century traditions of scholarship, the Society continues to set high standards through the publication of the Transactions and the Dictionary of Welsh Biography. It has also shown a capacity to adjust to the changing dynamics of Wales’s political and cultural life by commissioning and broadening its support for activities in both London and Cardiff, often by itself but sometimes in collaboration with such organisations as the National Assembly, the Institute of Welsh Affairs and
Wales in London.

In adapting to the challenges of a new century,the Society has found ways both to build on its many achievements and to contribute to the changing nature of welsh culture. I am happy to be associated with its success and to confirm my wholehearted support for the significant part it continues to play in the promotion and development of literature, the arts and sciences that are of special interest to Wales and the Welsh people.