Britain's Queen Elizabeth has given her blessing for the 'Welsh crown jewels' to be returned to Wales.

Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Elizabeth II

The set of items which includes a coronet, a ring, a rod, a sword and a robe are currently held at St James's Palace in London, but are set to be returned to Llandovery in Carmarthenshire, where they will be the central focus of a new heritage centre.

Chief executive of Prime Cymru - the Prince's Initiative for Mature Enterprise in Wales - David Pugh, told WalesOnline: "We have had the agreement of HM the Queen that, subject to us securing Heritage Lottery Funding, they will be on a long-term loan to Llandovery and will form the central part of the museum."

The regalia was last used at Caernarfon Castle in 1969 for the investiture of Prince Charles as the Prince of Wales, and the 66-year-old royal has been one of the people behind the campaign to have the items returned to west Wales.

A Clarence House spokeswoman said: "The investiture regalia for the current Prince of Wales is owned by the Royal Collection but it's going to go on display at the new heritage centre in Llandovery which is being planned as part of the regeneration of Llandovery.

"The regalia will be there along with the Edward VIII's investiture regalia.

"This was the Prince of Wales's idea to help with the regeneration of Llandovery."