A TV presenter has been roundly mocked over a social media outburst criticising King Charles III for speaking Welsh. When the King visited Cardiff on Friday, September 16, he appeared at the Senedd and replied in Welsh to a motion of condolence from its members. He said Wales "could not have been closer" to his mother Queen Elizabeth II's heart.
James Whale, who hosts a show on Talk TV and Talk Radio, posted a tweet full of spelling and grammatical errors on Friday afternoon. It said: "As somebody whose mother was Welsh and Bourne in the valleys and never spoke Welsh most Welsh people I just wish King Charles didn’t feel the necessity to try and do it most people in Wales don’t speak Welsh and it’s an embarrassment to C [sic]."
The tweet prompted a wave of responses, many of which ridiculed Whale's comments. Andy wrote: "I moved to Wales from Leeds. My kids and wife all speak Welsh. I love hearing them and their friends converse in their mother tongue. Stop trampling over Welsh culture and history."
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Brian Robinson added: "Welshness isn't dependent on where your Mother was 'born' James, it's a state of being not just a nationality. Most people don't speak Welsh as it was beaten out of our forebears by the English. Good on the King for recognising we have our own language."
The spelling and grammar errors in Whale's writing did not go unnoticed. Limontenant Cool tweeted: "Dear Christ, I’m first language Welsh and I was able to form better sentences in English at the age of 5. You ridiculous man."
Rick McMurray, the drummer in rock band Ash, wrote: "Why are you so upset about a language? Are you ok?" And Mabon ap Gwynfor, the Senedd Member for Dwyfor Meirionnydd, replied to Whale simply: "You need a cwtsh."
The King can speak some Welsh though he is not fluent, according to iNews. He had Welsh lessons at Aberystwyth University before his investiture as Prince of Wales in 1969.
During his speech in the Senedd on Friday, King Charles said in Welsh: “Through all the years of her reign, the land of Wales could not have been closer to my mother's heart. I know she took immense pride in your many great achievements, even as she also felt with you deeply in time of sorrow.
"It must surely be counted the greatest privilege to belong to a land that could inspire such devotion. I am resolved to honour that selfless example, in the spirit of the words by which I have always tried to live my own life: 'Ich Dien, I Serve'.
“Having visited the Senedd regularly since it was founded, and having heard your heartfelt words today, I know we all share the deepest commitment to the welfare of the people of this land, and that we will all continue to work together to that end.”
Speaking shortly before the visit to Cardiff, Wales' First Minister Mark Drakeford described the King's Welsh as "pretty good". He told ITV: "I think there will be opportunities that haven't been there before for him to demonstrate something which is very important about Wales.
"This is something which is different about Wales to any other part of the United Kingdom, that we are somewhere where two languages are genuinely in use, every day, in every part of Wales, and he will be in a better place to reflect that when the opportunities arise than has ever been the case in the past."
In a BBC interview the day before the King's visit, Cardiff University public policy expert Prof Laura McAllister said the biggest danger to the UK's union is "arrogance around its continuation". She added: "I suspect the monarchy has got perhaps even greater sensitivity than politicians to this because there's a real sense of understanding the cultural and political heritages of each of the nations is very different."
You can read more about the King's visit to Cardiff here. And you can read stories about the Queen's funeral here.
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