Royals to visit Aberfan to mark 60 years since disaster

King Charles III, Queen Camilla and the Prince of Wales will be among the visitors to Aberfan on Wednesday to mark 60 years since the coal waste tip collapse in the former mining village that killed 144 children and adults.

A prayer and moment of silence will take place and a male voice choir formed after the disaster is set to perform.

The royals will also join survivors, bereaved parents and other members of the community to mark the anniversary, who will share their personal reflections.

On 21 October 1966, 116 children and 28 adults were killed when the colliery spoil tip collapsed and engulfed a primary school and surrounding houses.

The King, Queen and Prince William will visit the Aberfan Memorial Garden, built on the site of the destroyed Pantglas school, as well as the community centre where they will meet retired emergency service workers who helped in the response.

They will also look at an exhibition that shows the huge scale of the rescue effort, and spend time with former pupils at Pantglas school, siblings of those who died and members of the Aberfan Wives, a support group for mothers who lost children in the disaster.

The village's Ynysowen Male Voice Choir, formed in the aftermath of the disaster, also became a support group for local men to share their experiences.

Among those to speak are Jeff Edwards, who met the prime minister on Monday, and who was one of the last children to be brought out alive from the rubble.

Prince William will visit Ynysowen Community Primary School - which was established to carry forward the legacy of Pantglas Junior School - to unveil an Aberfan Memorial Tree.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham visited Aberfan on Monday and described the disaster as one of the "most horrifying tragedies this country has ever seen", adding it was something he was told about by his parents as he was growing up.

He addressed the issue of coal tip safety in Wales during his visit, saying it was of "critical importance" that the remaining tips in Wales are made safe.

Burnham met with survivors of the tragedy, including former Pantglas pupil Irene Hollett, who said the anniversary was a difficult time but that it was important for her to speak about what happened.

"A lot of stuff comes back to you. You feel grateful that you are still around 60 years on, but then you miss your friends and family that we lost at the time," she said.

"You can feel a bit of guilt that you are still here."

The royal visit comes after Queen Elizabeth II reportedly described her response to the Aberfan disaster as one of the biggest regrets of her 70-year reign.

While Prince Philip, Lord Snowdon and the then Prime Minister Harold Wilson visited the scene the following day, the Queen waited eight days before going to the village, arriving to comfort the community shortly after a mass funeral had taken place.

Years later the Queen's former private secretary, the late Lord Charteris, said he felt he had given her poor advice and that it was the biggest regret of her reign.

But she returned several times, and whenever she was in the area, her thoughts would turn to Aberfan.

In a personal message read to the community by the then Prince Charles on the disaster's 50th anniversary, the late queen spoke of a fondness for the people of Aberfan, saying she was "deeply impressed by the remarkable fortitude, dignity and indomitable spirit that characterises the people of this village and the surrounding valleys".