THE SITUATION OF WALES

The usage of the title "United Kingdom" I know came about because there
was Union between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England
(and the "Kingdom of Ireland" - hence the province of Northern Ireland)
- but it is not clear to me what the position of Wales is or was?
Is/was Wales recognised as a sovereign principality forming part of the
United Kingdom or is it seen as a fiefdom of the Kingdom of England?

CJ Buyers...

I suppose one could now describe its present status something like "a
self governing province or principality within England"

Breton...

I would question "self governing". My understanding is that the Welsh
legislature has very limited powers. It's certainly nothing like, say,
the Cayman Islands.

CJ Buyers...

They do not have to be the same since there are no rules on the extent
of powers for the use of the term. Indeed my use of "within England"
would clearly signify that they are not the same as, for example,
Scotland or the Cayman Islands.

Breton...

I agree, they don't have to be exactly the same. However, I think there
is a world of difference between the sort of full internal self
government in Cayman, Bermuda, places like that; and Wales. Clearly,
Wales is not self governing in the sense it has full internal self
government.

CJ Buyers...

I do not really know what you mean by places like that, because
virtually each of them is different from the other as to the extent of
self-government that they enjoy. One could add the Isle of Man, and
dare I say it, the Channel Islands.

Of course, I did not use the term "full self-government", I used "self
governing" and "within England", precisely for these reasons.

Donald Binks