King Charles, accompanied by his wife and son, will visit south Wales on Wednesday to mark the 60th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster which killed 144 people, a tragedy which had a deep impact on his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth.
Charles, Queen Camilla and heir to the throne Prince William will lay wreaths at a memorial garden, a rare outing together for the three senior royals who often attend events separately, showing the importance attached to the disaster by the family.
After days of heavy rain in 1966, a coal tip collapsed sending a landslide into Aberfan which buried the village school and surrounding houses. Of those killed, 116 were children, mostly aged between seven and 10.
Queen Elizabeth visited eight days later and was visibly moved as she met the parents of children who had died, returning to the village on several occasions.
“I well remember my own visit with Prince Philip after the disaster and the posy I was given by a young girl which bore the heartbreaking inscription ‘from the remaining children of Aberfan’,” she said on the 50th anniversary.
Marking the 60th anniversary of the landslide on Wednesday, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said his thoughts were with the people of the village.
Charles, Camilla and William, will meet survivors and bereaved parents to pay tribute to those who lost their lives.
At a community centre in the village, Jeff Edwards, who as an eight-year old survived the landslide, will speak. He and Elizabeth got to know each other well over the years. She referred to him as “the little boy with the blond hair”.
Charles will also make a speech, before the trio head to the village’s new school to unveil a commemoration sculpture.
Britain on Wednesday approved the Jackdaw North Sea gas field, ending years of legal and political wrangling that had pitted the Labour government’s climate commitments against its push to bolster energy security.
Britain’s energy minister, Miatta Fahnbulleh, said the project will start to supply gas to British homes and businesses from as early as the end of this month.
At the same time, she said a new Energy Wealth Fund would be established by the government with a £2 billion downpayment to reinvest oil and gas revenues into the climate transition.
Fahnbulleh said Jackdaw was expected to increase domestic gas production by around 6% at its peak and support the country’s gas supply over its lifespan of up to 11 years, boosting energy security and protecting hundreds of jobs.
“At a time when people are really struggling, it’s right that we look in a responsible way at maximising the existing energy reserves we have in Britain that could help,” said Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
“Even on our ambitious climate path, we’ll still require oil and gas as part of our energy needs for decades to come. That’s why we’re taking a pragmatic approach to the North Sea.”
Adura, the joint venture between energy giants Shell SHEL.L and Norway’s Equinor EQNR.OL that operates the project, has said Jackdaw will produce up to 40,000 barrels of oil equivalent of natural gas per day at peak output.
The fate of Jackdaw had been in limbo for years.
The previous Conservative government approved the project in 2022, but climate activists challenged the decision in court alongside approval for the Rosebank oil and gas field. A 2025 ruling barred operators from extracting oil or gas until they received fresh government consent that takes into account emissions from the burning of the fields’ hydrocarbons.
The decision has taken on added significance for Burnham since he took office in July.
Britain’s high energy costs for households and industry have weighed on the economy, while US President Donald Trump has repeatedly urged Burnham to expand drilling in the North Sea to help lower prices.
At the same time, the issue has become a rallying point for climate activists, who say approving new fossil fuel projects undermines Labour’s green pledges and ignores warnings from a summer of record-breaking heat across Europe.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced a campaign against listening to music or videos without headphones on public transportation. We asked London commuters to weigh in.
Traveling on the London subway in April. Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced a national campaign against “one of the most annoying things on public transport” — people blasting music or videos from their phone.
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