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The royal family
Original poster

I think William should have learned Welsh?

278 replies

antelopevalley · 07/10/2022 15:22

William is the new Prince of Wales. He has known for years he will be, but still only knows a few Welsh words.
Charles learned to speak Welsh and can have conversations with people and has given many speeches in Welsh.
I don't understand why William has not done the preparation his father did for this role?

OP posts:
caringcarer · 07/10/2022 16:55

King Charles only learned Welch after he was made Prince of Wales. I expect Prince William will learn a little Welch now too and Catherine as well.

PoundShopPrincess · 07/10/2022 16:55

I have a funny feeling the OP isn't Welsh because most Welsh people I know don't care about this.
I thought today's anti-PoW thread would be about Kate's shoes. Nice seque into William instead. Hmm
I have a funny feeling if he had started learning Welsh early the usual posters would have complained he was being presumptuous that he'd be PoW and that he was trying to colonise the Welsh language. He can't win. They'd be as well just starting a new thread every day saying we hate the RF ... except for the two that we don't. There would be more integrity in it.

vera99 · 07/10/2022 16:59

Here's dad having a go...

wordler · 07/10/2022 17:00

antelopevalley · 07/10/2022 16:22

Okay got it.
He does not have to be sensitive to the issues around the Prince of Wales title still existing and being passed on to William. He does not have to do the bare minimum to try and get Welsh detractors on his side.
Just carry on as normal.

As soon as the position was announced he phoned Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford to say how honoured he was by the position and to pledge to serve the Welsh people with humility and respect.

Their statement:
"The Prince and Princess will spend the months and years ahead deepening their relationship with communities across Wales. They want to do their part to support the aspirations of the Welsh people and to shine a spotlight on both the challenges and opportunities in front of them."

He's already confirmed there will be no big flashy investiture like Charles had.
Their first engagement after mourning was over was to celebrate and highlight Wales.

Sounds to me as though he is aware and is being as sensitive as possible.

He's got years ahead of him to see if he can back up his pledge to support Wales in the best way that the people of Wales let him know they want to be supported. We can only wait and see what happens.

I don't think there is any sign that he's ignorant of or ignoring the local and cultural sensitivities around his new position.

StarsAtElbowsAndFoot · 07/10/2022 17:01

I’m not the OP, but I don’t think it’s right to say that Welsh people don’t care about this.

I’m Welsh and I think it’s a fair discussion and debate to have.

I also think it’s worth pointing out that one of the main reasons the Welsh language figures got so low is because a hundred years ago, Welsh children were literally caned for speaking their own language. English was seen as the ‘language of advancement’ and so they tried to beat the Welsh out of the children. Little wonder us Welsh speakers get quite protective over our language really.

IcedPurple · 07/10/2022 17:01

DewinDwl · 07/10/2022 16:50

The thread is on its third page so it seems that other people apart from the OP have opinions on the topic. And IIRC it was other posters calling royals thick and lazy not the OP? Maybe we should close all the threads about the war in Ukraine as most posters on them aren't Ukrainian...

Show quote history

If several Ukrainian posters came on to say they disagreed with the OP, I don't think it would be unreasonable to ask if she was Ukrainian.

Cuppasoupmonster · 07/10/2022 17:01

Well if we’re looking at it from this angle, they’re not English either - their houses are a mixture of German and Greek. So 🤷🏼‍♀️

wordler · 07/10/2022 17:02

For anyone interested the Duolingo app has a Welsh option. It's quite fun - one of the first words it teaches you is dragon. And it's free.

www.duolingo.com/course/cy/en/Learn-Welsh

myrtleWilson · 07/10/2022 17:02

He has spoken Welsh at an event in Wales before so I don't think he can be in the 'wilful refusal' category

Butitsnotfunnyisititsserious · 07/10/2022 17:03

God you really have an issue on the RF don't you? Get a life.

TheTantrumoftheToddlerIsThere · 07/10/2022 17:07

He’s actually lived in Wales
He has worked in Wales
He currently speaks a little bit of Welsh (although not fluently)
He’s stated he is currently learning Welsh

do I have to start posting silly tidbits of him celebrating St David’s day and making Welsh cakes to prove he is trying to embrace the culture?

oh wait, I’ve actually found an article about that…
www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-60569281.amp

or does he need to be in full Welsh dress picking daffodils and leeks?

IcedPurple · 07/10/2022 17:09

Cuppasoupmonster · 07/10/2022 17:01

Well if we’re looking at it from this angle, they’re not English either - their houses are a mixture of German and Greek. So 🤷🏼‍♀️

If by 'Greek' you mean Philip, then he wasn't ethnically Greek at all. He was of mostly German and Danish origin.

Aspiringmatriarch · 07/10/2022 17:09

wordler · 07/10/2022 17:02

For anyone interested the Duolingo app has a Welsh option. It's quite fun - one of the first words it teaches you is dragon. And it's free.

www.duolingo.com/course/cy/en/Learn-Welsh

I've been learning Welsh for a while on there, it's great!

PoundShopPrincess · 07/10/2022 17:09

StarsAtElbowsAndFoot · 07/10/2022 17:01

I’m not the OP, but I don’t think it’s right to say that Welsh people don’t care about this.

I’m Welsh and I think it’s a fair discussion and debate to have.

I also think it’s worth pointing out that one of the main reasons the Welsh language figures got so low is because a hundred years ago, Welsh children were literally caned for speaking their own language. English was seen as the ‘language of advancement’ and so they tried to beat the Welsh out of the children. Little wonder us Welsh speakers get quite protective over our language really.

We know the history. Being protective over your language doesn't automatically mean you want an English prince to speak it. There's no obvious correlation between the history and the OP's position.

Also OP probably doesn't know the history because this is nothing to do with Wales for the OP. It's about slagging off William and Kate. As a PP said it seems to be their life. Although I think it may actually be their job. Posting so often about them without getting paid for it would just be really sad.

wordler · 07/10/2022 17:09

He might just not be very good at languages - and it's easy to forget if you don't use it all the time - at 18 I was fluent in German after my A levels - 30 years later it's nearly all gone - I could manage to feed myself and book a hotel etc but I can't discuss politics etc.

He's given at least learning the pronunciation a go in the past

vera99 · 07/10/2022 17:10

Here's the proper Prince of Wales showing them how to do it.

Rollingdownland · 07/10/2022 17:12

Can't see the point of that at all. Most Welsh people don't speak Welsh.

I live in London and don't expect the monarch to talk in Cockney rhyming slang.

Jazzandblues · 07/10/2022 17:13

Given its all he has been trained to do, William is poorly informed of the fact his job is actually suppose to be a job. About time the royals were scrapped. I think it has been calculated that all the work he does is around 30 hrs for the whole year.

lickenchugget · 07/10/2022 17:13

I’m Welsh, and couldn’t care less.

Whataretheodds · 07/10/2022 17:14

HappyHamsters · 07/10/2022 15:50

If he is learning it whats the problem, he doesnt need to be fluent. Charles isnt fluent either.

Because it's much harder to pick up languages at 40 than at 14, or 24.

It's not as though the title was a surprise.

Coucous · 07/10/2022 17:14

HappyHamsters · 07/10/2022 15:55

The late Queen ruled 32 sovereign states, was she fluent in all those languages

No, she was their boss - colonisers / slavers didn't do things that way. People weren't allowed to speak their owned languages, they had to adopt the language of their boss.
So there was no pressure for her to learn all those languages despite having the time.

I also agree British people should be fluent in 2 British languages. Why not? I'd learn Gaelic.

They should pick a Welsh prince of Wales. Imagine he was Prince of Canada or Uganda . . . I'm not sure the locals would be happy either.

vera99 · 07/10/2022 17:15

Jazzandblues · 07/10/2022 17:13

Given its all he has been trained to do, William is poorly informed of the fact his job is actually suppose to be a job. About time the royals were scrapped. I think it has been calculated that all the work he does is around 30 hrs for the whole year.

Should be gig economy - for the "work" that he does let's say generously £150 an hour and we tot it up on a monthly basis. No travel time though - got to be like the carers, time with the clients only.

Coucous · 07/10/2022 17:18

Rollingdownland · 07/10/2022 17:12

Can't see the point of that at all. Most Welsh people don't speak Welsh.

I live in London and don't expect the monarch to talk in Cockney rhyming slang.

Wouldn't that be entertaining? I'd prefer them to be more entertaining and relaxed. Imagine Kate at Buckingham gates chatting away with the tourists.

Quveas · 07/10/2022 17:22

maddy68 · 07/10/2022 15:49

I am Welsh and don't speak it. Most Welsh people dont actually he knows more than I do

I'm not convinced that being unable to speak the language of your nation because it was almost driven to extinction by successive policies of what was originally an occupying force and who have been determined to enforce their rule by ethnocide is a good enough reason to give for you not speaking your own language, or for a majority of people to not speak their own language. There are 10 remaining indigenous languages in the UK, and they should be cherished. They are part of a rich heritage. And if William wants to be a prince of that nation it is only courteous and polite to be able to converse in the language. It's not as though he had no notice that he'd likely be in this position some day.

KirstenBlest · 07/10/2022 17:23

@IcedPurple , it wouldn't take years of study - it can be learnt quickly if it's immersive.
When I've heard PC (as he was) speak Welsh I struggled to understand him, but at least he tried.

Depending on which other languages you speak, many of the sounds are very difficult to master, as they have no equivalent in English.

Many people I know who claim to be fluent in Welsh are not. They speak Wenglish. A lot of people think that Welsh is a dialect of English, like say Scouse, Scots or Cockney.