To tell you why the title ‘Prince of Wales’ is an historical insult to the Welsh and shouldn’t exist anymore

[Upthebracket22]

I am Welsh. I was enraged yesterday when the new king decided to ‘bestow’ the title on Prince William, an English Prince without asking the Welsh if they wanted another English Prince of Wales.

here is some historical context from a petition going around at the moment:

The "Prince of Wales" title (Welsh: Tywysog Cymru) is a title historically used by native, Welsh princes since the 14th century. The last native Prince of Wales was Llywelyn the Last, killed by English soldiers in 1282 and his head was then paraded through the streets of London and placed on a Tower of London spike. Llywelyn's brother Dafydd was the first person of note to be hung, drawn and quartered and his head was placed next to Llywelyn's. Both their daughters were taken as infants and children and imprisoned.

But this happened centuries ago you might say. The truth is, that since the days of Llywelyn the Last and the "rebel" Prince of Wales, Owain Glyndwr, the title has been held exclusively by Englishmen as a symbol of dominance over Wales. To this day, the English "Princes of Wales" have no genuine connection to our country.

The title remains an insult to Wales and is a symbol of historical oppression. The title also implies that Wales is still a principality, undermining Wales' status as a nation and a country. In addition, the title has absolutely no constitutional role for Wales, which is now a devolved country with a national Parliament.

As Welsh actor, Michael Sheen put it;

"Make a break there. Put some things that have been the wrongs of the past right. There's an opportunity to do that at that point. Don't necessarily just because of habit and without thinking just carry on that tradition that was started as a humiliation to our country. Why not change that as we come to this moment where things will inevitably change."

I don’t think many people have any concept of Welsh history. I find it offensive and think now would have been a good moment to right a historical wrong.

Yes, a sizeable contigent booing the new King.

twitter.com/Urban_Pictures/status/1570762362906628096

Pfft, nobody cares though. The national anthem is offensive to Scotland, we still use it.

a sizeable chunk of Welsh people are thinking #not my prince
How "sizeable"? Anything like a majority?

Also there is nothing wrong with the Guardian, it is one of the better UK papers.
You must be joking. They bullied Suzanne Moore out and still employ Owen Jones. At least other broadsheets employ a variety of contributers with views across the political spectrum. Provides for a more balanced output, you see.

For anyone interested www.livinginireland.ie/culture-society/a-brief-history-of-ireland/

The age of deference is over.

twitter.com/jrc1921/status/1570839156926062596

Consider the 800 years of oppression with Irish Nationalism and Republicanism myth. Completely ignores the abuses of the people by Gaelic Lords, for example.

It's also worth pointing out that the worst British oppressor of the Irish wasn't even a king. It took place under a republic. Oliver Cromwell was cruel to the Irish.

The polling is interesting www2.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2022/09/16/some-harsh-realities-on-the-monarchy-from-john-curtice/

Which bit exactly?

Let's not kid ourselves though:
A monarchy is still much preferred to a Republic

There was originally 6 verses and one verse was about crushing rebellious scots. I assume its not in current use.

End of the day a family who call themselves royal are giving each other funny names. It's totally meaningless bollocks. I'll call myself Princess of London thank you all. Don't take it too seriously. I'm of Welsh heritage btw.

At the moment yes - but there was a time when votes for women were regarded as an unachievable un-British thing and here we are. Charles will never reach the giddying heights of his mother of that I think we can all agree.

@DownNative states that --> Welsh is a minority language. Therefore, Wales mostly has the same culture as the rest of the UK. British.

That guy is funny :) MN classic?

How about you google about language and culture and come back and educate us.

Much of this thread relates to issues that are common in multi-cultural environments. To take the discussion away from the British Isles, there is a fairly recent book called "East West Street" that is a very interesting read, both from the legal perspective (I'm a lawyer) and a human (yes, I'm human) perspective too. I found it a compelling read.

It's written by a recognized expert, unlike so many of the posts above :)

It's especially relevant today in light of the situation in Ukraine.

I love Michael Sheen his speech about the last true Prince of Wales is very interesting.

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-11222097/Michael-Sheen-questions-King-Charles-decision-visit-Wales-Owain-Glynd-r-day.html

Why has Viscount Severn got medals? He’s 14. Nothing personal against him. He looks like my DS and seems sweet. But the medals? 🤔

shhh ...don’t let the daylight in upon the magic of monarchy.......he's got them because ....

Why don’t Zara, Louise, Beatrice and Eugenie have medals?

I think they're jubilee medals? Won't be military

I guess because they identify as "pacifist gender". Can't think why else it might be.

I agree, it's an absolute disgrace and an insult to Wales. All this pomp, ceremony and titles is just embarrassing and smacks of colonial era. I'm ashamed.

I'm English and living in Wales. My eyes have been opened to several injustices that have occurred over the years - like when the English flooded a Welsh village in the 60s to make a reservoir to give drinking water to the people of Liverpool. Always treated as a second class country and then the English still invade to buy themselves a second home.

like when the English flooded a Welsh village in the 60s to make a reservoir to give drinking water to the people of Liverpool. Always treated as a second class country and then the English still invade to buy themselves a second home

was that "the English", or the British government or the regional water board of the time?

And is it "the English" or people whose first home are in England?

Not sure what "English" actually is, but not everyone who lives in England is "English", by a long way.

By the way, a lot of "Welsh" people live in Liverpool (my definition being people who were born, or at least one of their parents was born, in Wales).

Come on now, there's a huge difference between cruelty and planning decisions. What do you think about the sewage from Wales draining into England? I bet you'd love to use that line if it were the other way around.

Capel Celyn has quite a story behind it, it was not a run-of-the-mill planning decision, and I can't see a similar plan going through today.

medium.datadriveninvestor.com/the-drowning-of-capel-celyn-109496dc611e

As regards to the driving force behind Capel Celyn, it looks as though the idea came from Liverpool City Council, who had to get a bill sponsored in Parliament.