This article is about the particular significance of the year 1997 to Wales and its people.
Incumbents
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Secretary of State for Wales – William Hague (until 3 May); Ron Davies
Archbishop of Wales – Alwyn Rice Jones, Bishop of St Asaph
Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales – Dafydd Rowlands
Events
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15 January – Diana, Princess of Wales calls for an international ban on landmines.[1]
21 January – Wales child abuse scandal: Over eighty people are named as child abusers in care homes in North Wales.[2]
March – Launch of the "Welsh Language in Chubut" project.
13 March – Launch of the Aberystwyth Centre for the Book.
1 May – In the UK general election, four female MPs are elected in Wales -- Julie Morgan, Ann Clwyd, Betty Williams and Jackie Lawrence. Lembit Öpik becomes MP for Montgomeryshire.[3]
24 May – Robert Hardy officially opens the Judge's Lodging museum in Presteigne.[4]
31 August – Newsreader Martyn Lewis announces the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.
1 September – The Prince of Wales flies to Paris to bring home the body of his ex-wife. Bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones, the only survivor of the crash in which Diana died, remains in a critical condition.
6 September – At the funeral of the former Princess of Wales, her coffin is carried into Westminster Abbey by a contingent of Welsh Guards.[5]
18 September – The referendum on Welsh devolution results in a narrow "Yes" vote.
13 October – First section of the restored Welsh Highland Railway (60 cm (2 ft) gauge) officially opens over 5 km (3 mi) of former standard gauge trackbed between Caernarfon and Dinas.
date unknown
Alun Hoddinott receives the Glyndwr Award for an Outstanding Contribution to the Arts in Wales.
Bryn Euryn, an archaeological site near Colwyn Bay, is identified as the probable base of Cynlas Goch, a 6th-century king.[6]
Cardiff Arms Park is demolished to make way for a new stadium.
Welsh Sheepdog Society is founded.
Jenny Pride becomes the first Welsh female to command a unit of the Royal Engineers.
Arts
[edit]
Sir Harry Secombe suffers a stroke.
October - The Red Violin festival is held for the first time in Cardiff.[7]
^Buckingham, Mike. (1999). Alexander Cordell. Frame, Richard. Cardiff: GPC Books. ISBN 058527911X. OCLC 45729340.
^Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan; Bull, David (2013). All the Saints: A Complete Players' Who's Who of Southampton FC. Southampton: Hagiology Publishing. p. 54. ISBN 978-0-9926-8640-6.
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