LONDON: A recording of Britain's Prince Charles reading a poem by Dylan Thomas will be released on Thursday to mark National Poetry Day and help launch celebrations heralding the centenary of the birth of the Welsh poet.
The heir-to-the-throne said that "Fern Hill" was one of his favourite poems because of "its poignant and moving evocation of a rural west Wales childhood".
"I cannot help feeling this is one of the great legacies of Thomas's poetry that it inspires people to appreciate the incomparable landscape of Wales," he said.
The Dylan Thomas 100 Festival, which marks the centenary of his birth, begins later this year, and organisers hope it will inspire interest in the poet and Welsh literature in general.
"It's fantastic that Charles is closely involving himself in our centenary celebrations with a reading that my grandfather would have loved, of a poem that meant so much to him and our family," sad Thomas's grand-daughter, Hannah Ellis.
Prince Charles's reading will be available at www.princeofwales.gov.uk from 0700 GMT on Thursday. (Reuters)
