Sixty years after a wall of coal waste swallowed a Welsh village school, Britain's most senior royals are standing with the survivors today. King Charles, Queen Camilla and the Prince of Wales are in Aberfan, South Wales, to mark the 60th anniversary of the disaster that killed 116 children and 28 adults on October 21, 1966.
The tragedy unfolded on the last morning before half-term, when 150,000 tonnes of liquefied slurry from the Merthyr Vale Colliery slid down Mynydd Merthyr and engulfed Pantglas Junior School. According to the BBC, the royal party will visit the Aberfan Memorial Garden, which stands on the site of the destroyed school, where the King and Prince William will lay wreaths and the Queen will place a posy during a short prayer and a moment of silence.
The royals will also meet survivors, bereaved families and retired emergency workers at the Aberfan and Merthyr Vale Community Centre. Prince William will later visit Ynysowen Community Primary School to unveil the Aberfan Memorial Tree, a new sculpture created for the anniversary, the PA news agency reports.
The visit carries deep royal history. Queen Elizabeth II's decision to wait eight days before visiting Aberfan was later described as one of the greatest regrets of her reign; she returned to the village three more times, opening Ynysowen Primary School in 2012. Charles previously visited in 2016, privately laying a wreath, while William met survivors alongside the Princess of Wales in 2023.
First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth called Aberfan "one of the darkest days in our nation's history," while Prime Minister Andy Burnham has already laid a wreath with survivor Jeff Edwards. Sixty years on, the village's story of loss, resilience and the fight for coal-tip safety remains etched into Britain's memory.