POPULAR figure Dafydd Iwan claims that there was a fake plot to assassinate the then-Prince Charles and that someone tried to lure him into it.
The claims are made in Dafydd's new autobiography: Dafydd Iwan: Still Singing Yma o Hyd. The book is set to be released on November 9.
In the book, Dafydd – a popular folk singer and Welsh nationalist who was born in Brynamman, Carmarthenshire, before moving close to Bala – writes about a bizarre incident which he says happened shortly before the investiture of the Prince of Wales at Caernarfon Castle in July 1969.
At the time, Dafydd’s satirical song Carlo (Charles) was riding high in the Welsh charts. He stated that passions surrounding the investiture were at their height and said he “experienced at first hand a rather pathetic attempt by an agent provocateur to put me in a great deal of trouble.” This came as he said that every government tend to use ‘unnecessarily heavy-handed methods to carry out their surveillance.’
The 80-year-old said: “I arrived at a concert in Llanrwst to find the place crawling with police, and two of them approached me to say they’d received intelligence that someone was out to kill me, so they were there in numbers to give me protection.
“I was ushered into the marquee where the concert was to take place and shown into a small room in a corner of the tent. ‘We will be outside if you need us,’ they told me.
“As I sat there, trying to come to terms with what I’d just heard, and getting the guitar ready for the stage, a man came in, looking like a character from a B movie, and said in a hushed voice that we’d met previously at a Plaid do in Holyhead. I’d never seen him before, and never saw him again,
“He said that he had very little time, so he wanted to come straight to the point. ‘We have a plan to assassinate the Prince, and you are the very man to help us.’
“I did not let him finish his sentence but told him to get out as quickly as his feet could take him and added that I didn’t ever want to see him again.”
In the book, Dafydd also details his life including growing up as one of four brothers including actor Huw Caredig and politician Alun Ffred Jones and his musical career from the mid-1960s, where he was regularly featured on TV for his music and his political activities as a member of Cymdeithas yr Iaith.
Dafydd was jailed in 1970 after refusing to pay fines for defacing English only road signs as part of the fight for Welsh language rights. He also speaks about how he met Cayo Evans, the one-time leader of the Free Wales Army, who acted as his ‘prison minder.’
The Lampeter native was one of three men who were convicted of conspiracy to cause explosions and other public order offences. He was handed a lengthy prison sentence the same day that Prince Charles was invested as Prince of Wales.
Dafydd would be jailed for a second time but was released when the outstanding fine was paid by a mystery figure. However, in the book, Dafydd reveals that the mystery figure was Welsh rugby legend Ray Gravell and speaks of their close friendship.
Dafydd Iwan: Still Singing Yma o Hyd is published by Y Lolfa and available at bookstores and online for £9.99.
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