William, the Prince of Wales who doesn't know Welsh (after 42 years)
Despite knowing from birth that he would take up the post, he has been criticised for his poor level of Welsh after his first speech in the language
BarcelonaWilliam of Wales does not know Welsh. This is the sad reality of the 42-year-old man who knew from birth that he would end up occupying the position of Prince of Wales until he became King of the United Kingdom, a position for which that language should also be, by the way, indispensable. It is hard to believe that for more than four decades in Buckingham no one has had the multinational sensitivity to think that it would not be bad if the first-born son of King Charles III made this part of his subjects feel at least somewhat good when he went to visit them or when he gave them a speech. But we are where we are and that has not happened anymore. From now on, only patches can be made that, who knows, perhaps in the long run they will even end up working. What is clear at the moment is that his level of Welsh has not caught on much among those who speak it.
The controversy over this issue arose this week after William made the first speech of his life in Welsh, which could be justified because until recently he was not the Prince of Wales. It is reasonable to think that the Windsors have all been victims of the buffer generation for many years because Queen Elizabeth II did not want to move from the throne until the end of her days, which left the entire family stuck in the lower aristocratic positions of the ladder. For this reason, when the queen died, in 2022, Charles III was able to ascend the throne and William finally became the prince of this small country located in the southwest of the United Kingdom, inhabited by some 3.1 million people - the equivalent of only 5% of the inhabitants of the British state - of which.
Three years until the first speech
Although William had had plenty of time to boast about his Welsh since the death of Elizabeth II, he had not yet found the time to pronounce his first words in this language of Celtic origin. But the worst thing was not the three-year wait: it was the materialization. Despite being recorded on video, which allowed for tests and repetitions, his debut has generated disappointment among the most knowledgeable. Daily Mail She went to ask a Cardiff University professor about the language and he was not very conciliatory in his verdict. "By now, after 42 years of preparation for the job, she should be able to speak Welsh better," said Dr Dylan Foster Evans. "People say she should be able to do more than just read a message for a few seconds; Welsh has been an official language of Wales since 2011. Perhaps we should expect much more [than what she has done]," he concluded.
It is obvious that if in a pre-recorded video in which you see how he is reading a teleprompter He can only give that level, it is better not to imagine what would happen to him if he had to speak Welsh in person... In fact, it is clear that the palace was so aware of the mediocrity of his ability in that language that William rarely appears speaking looking at the camera. They immediately cover up the speech with images, since his gaze does not seem natural because he is reading. In fact, it would not be strange to discover that what he was reading was not Welsh but a phonetic transcription of the language that he is supposed to know.
The People's Prince
As if this were not enough, on a visit by William to Wales last year he tried to make himself known by saying that he was using Duolingo to learn the language. I, to be honest, would not have been happy if he said this about my language. If you are a visitor who comes to spend some time in my country, I might understand it, but if you are a visitor who is not a native speaker, I would have been very happy to hear that. de facto the highest representative in the world and on top of that you get paid from the public treasury, I think we should expect a little more rigor and a deeper and broader immersion. With 41 years old that he was last year, it must have seemed quite serious to the palace to admit that he was still studying the language at that time. He must have thought –or they must have thought for him…– that disguising it with informality was a way to appear close and current and thus conceal his curricular sin. However, more than a nice gesture, it is a joke in bad taste to be simultaneously Prince of Wales and King of Duolingo.
The 'pastry chef' prince
William's speech was accompanied by a visit to Wales on the occasion of St. David's Day, a major holiday in Wales, where he is the patron saint. He and his wife, Kate Middleton – who is also Princess of Wales, but we don't know how much Welsh she speaks... – have walked around various parts of the country, including a town recently affected by floods, and they also made some typical local cakes. A real royal treasure hunt for the proximity to the town. It's a shame that this seems so unbelievable after it has been revealed that the couple had recently been on a trip to the island of Mustique, one of the most expensive tourist destinations in the Caribbean.
William's approach to the role of Prince of Wales is quite different from that of his father, who held the title for 64 years. The current Charles III, then Prince Charles, went to university to learn the Welsh language and culture. However, he was always less forthcoming than his son. Charles did not bake cakes but trained for the role at Aberystwyth University. In his case the problem was that he celebrated a coronation as Prince of Wales, which some understood as a display of English power over the people of Wales.
He was just shy of 21 years old and had gained a reputation for not being the alpha male that the monarchy imagined he should be to one day take the throne. So, to promote him, his uncle-in-law Lord Snowdon, husband of Princess Margaret, designed a proclamation for him in Wales that was absolutely intended to be broadcast on television. It was 1969 and he was an art director and photographer, and audience success was assured. And so it was: 500 million people watched as Queen Elizabeth II placed a very extravagant crown on Charles' head that they had designed. ad hoc for the occasion to make it look more youthful.
The courtyard of a Welsh castle was an ideal circular stage so that the cameras did not miss any detail. Many years have passed since then and Guillem has understood that the town would not digest a display of that caliber very well. He has chosen to be a prince of the people, at least outwardly. It's a shame that they try to disguise their lack of effort for the Welsh people with proximity and informality. They could be friendly and have done their homework. It's compatible... But in their minds, perhaps saying hello in the street is already a big deal. act of generosity with which the people should already be sufficiently content to not ask for more. Giving up formality should not be the same as giving up one's obligations.
