Prince of Wales is not fitted with catapults and arrestor wires, and is instead designed to operate STOVL aircraft; the ship is currently planned to carry up to 48 F-35B Lightning II stealth multirole fighters and Merlin helicopters for airborne early warning and anti-submarine warfare, although in surge conditions the class is capable of supporting 70+ F-35B.

[17] The design emphasises flexibility, with accommodation for 250 Royal Marines and the ability to support them with attack helicopters and troop transports up to and larger than Chinook size.

[3] The ship's commissioning date marked the 78th anniversary of the sinking of her predecessor, a World War II era battleship which was lost in action along with HMS Repulse in 1941.

[21] When on operations, Prince of Wales will form a central part of a UK Carrier Strike Group, comprising escorts and support ships, with the aim to facilitate carrier-enabled power projection.

[22] Much like her sister ship Queen Elizabeth, the original 2008 design of Prince of Wales envisaged flying F-35B Lightning II Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) jets from a ski-jump ramp.

However, in May 2010, the government published its long-awaited Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR), which stated that Prince of Wales would be converted to a Catapult Assisted Take-Off But Arrested Recovery (CATOBAR) configuration, operating the F-35C.

[23][24] The SDSR also stipulated that the UK only required one aircraft carrier, however penalty clauses in the contract meant that cancelling Prince of Wales would be more expensive than building her.

[2] In September 2014, Prince of Wales reached a final assembly phase when hull blocks LB02 and LB03 were floated into 1 Dock of Rosyth dockyard, Scotland.

[45] The two ships of the Queen Elizabeth class are each expected to be capable of carrying forty aircraft, a maximum of 36 Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II stealth multirole fighters and four AgustaWestland Merlin helicopters.

[48] As of September 2013[update] six landing spots are planned, but the deck could be marked out for the operation of ten medium helicopters at once, allowing the lift of a company of 250 troops.

The original, raised in 2002 and currently residing at the National Museum of the Royal Navy location at the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard,[54] was surveyed as part of the process.

Cammell Laird COO Tony Graham presented the finished replica to commanding officer Captain Darren Houston during the ship's week-long visit to Liverpool in March 2020.

[55][56] The Queen Elizabeth-class carrier is the eighth HMS Prince of Wales, named after the title traditionally granted to the heir apparent of the British monarch.

[62][63] On 29 August after suffering mechanical problems in the UK's South Coast Exercise area,[62] the ship proceeded to anchor in the Solent off the Isle of Wight.

Once in the Channel the ship’s company will conduct trials with UK-firm W Autonomous Systems to assess the feasibility of drones delivering supplies to Royal Navy vessels at sea – initially flying in up to 100kg of stores.

[71][72] On 15 November a General Atomics Mojave unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) took off from and then landed back on board Prince of Wales, with the aircraft carrier situated off the east coast of the United States.

This marked a point in time where the Mojave Remotely Piloted Air System (RPAS) drone is the largest uncrewed vehicle to have flown from a non-US Navy carrier.

[73] On 12 February 2024, Prince of Wales sailed for Norway to participate in Exercise Steadfast Defender replacing HMS Queen Elizabeth which was suffering from an issue with a propeller shaft coupling preventing her from deploying.