The position of the royal family with regard to the nations of Britain has always been a bit of a muddle. We've seen some members give support to one or other of these countries, and that's fair enough. Neither is it unusual to support another nation, especially if your own is not involved.
But on the news this evening, we can see William Windsor say that he is English, which is a very different thing from saying that he supports England ... or indeed that he backs their bid to host a sporting event.
I'm sure most people have never been in any doubt that he's English, even though he likes to call himself Wales. But for him to actually admit it in such an impassioned way must surely make his already dubious position as Vice Royal Patron of the Welsh Rugby Union completely untenable.
It's now time for us to insist that he resigns.
14 comments:
I went to the Wales-South Africa game this year, and it was only as I was leaving that I realised there had been no reference made to Prince William cup and no sign of Billy Windsor.
Maybe the WRU has realised it was a poor decision?
Anon
Re-name it the Bobby Windsor Cup
Should have called the Wales-South Africa cup the Cwpan David Ivon Davies. He was an Aberystwyth unitarian who emigrated to SA and was one of the founding members of the ANC.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/mid/halloffame/public_life/davidivonjones.shtml
A Welsh-speaker who made a proud contribution to South Africa ... not a member of the royal family who sent men to conquer the Zulus and Boers.
The David Ivon Davies cup would be a worthy trophy showing the best of our two nations ... but hey, the WRU boys wouldn't get their little OBEs then would they!
Macsen
The late Patrick Hannan wrote that the only thing the establishment didn't hold against Diana was her Englishness.
I've read that William, thanks to his mother, will be the most English monarch since Queen Anne. England's Rose has had her revenge on her former husband. Perhaps her son's Englishness will cause further problems for the monarchy, not least in how to 'sell' a very English Prince of Wales.
Hendre
Time and time again the various TV news channels and bulletins referred to the Windsor-Battenberg boy as the future King of England.
Come to think of it, they could well be right and sooner than they think, maybe before his faither picks up the orb.
There will soon be no "United Kingdom" after Scotland breaks the Union. No Scotland no United Kingdom.
That leave him as the future King of England, Wales, a bit of Ireland and Cornwall. Doesn't scan, does it?
Heigh Ho!
I don't have a particular problem with Billy Windsor, he has his head screwed on and at least he is holding down a day job (of sorts). It's great he's finally come out of the English closet. Now if only more royals would follow suit......
It always brings a smile to my face when others do the hard work for us.
An interesting aside to this; there were a lot of union flags being held by people at the big screen outside London City Hall. I guess the venues in Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast must've been hushed up.
I actually wanted England to host the World Cup too, for the record.
What an ahistorical bunch you are! Remember, Wales has been a part of England ever since the Tudor Acts of Union.
Our United Kingdom unites the Kingdoms of England (incorporating Wales), Scotland and (admittedly only a little bit of) Ireland.
So, if William Wales calls himself "English", that doesn't exclude his Welshness. Being Welsh is just a special part of being English, see! So the WRU can rest in peace. Willie can be both at once.
And so can you, MH, and so can I, and so can we all.
Now, on the other hand, we may not like the fact that we are represented by St. George on the Union Flag, and we may want to change things, but that is another story altogether ...
Willy even used the occasion to plug his own 'major event'! Have they no shame?
Today's papers are full of recriminations and justifications - showing once again that really, England has never lost a fair fight!
There's a real point to be made about the cup- it should be the Wales-South Africa Friendship Cup, seeing as it was said that Wales had a larger anti-apartheid movement per capita than any country in the world outside of SA.
Incidentally, the royal family more or less supported apartheid. William Windsor obviously wasn't around but a sense of perspective in naming the cup would be welcome.
If Roger Lewis means what he says (and I think its a great article) the WRU should lead by example.
Well done Roger Lewis. Now lets see the WRU listening to the people for once - drop the English Patron and re-name the cup.
'reluctant englishman' im not entirely sure that yours was a serious contribution or not...or just designed to get the hackles up of all right thinking patriotic welshmen lol....;)....on the point of history it shouldnt be overlooked that the greatest ever english royal dynasty...the tudors...were welsh of course! so it was in fact a case of england being annexed to wales in 1536 .....so being english...is just a 'special part' of being welsh......;)
Leigh Richards
Leigh Richards @1733
Half serious, Leigh, but maybe I'd better turn the irony cues up a bit stronger.
Seriously, though, building a coherent national identity for Wales as Welsh is a tough one. All sorts of real and imagined barriers stand in the way, stuff Gwynfor so elegantly dealt with 30 years ago. Wales as a part of England (= Britain) is a psychological fact for a significant number of people in Wales (and I don't just mean those who've come late to the party).
I do laugh, though, at the idea of an Englishman being a doubly-blessed Welshman. Somehow, I don't see Henri 8 and his courtiers embracing that view, however revionist we choose to make our histories!
To my mind the fact that the trophy for this game was not named after Carwyn James is a disgrace.
The (possibly )greatest Rugby Coach to come out of Wales although he coached the Lions he was never allowed by the WRU to coach Wales.
But he also wore his politics on his sleeve He was the coach to the 1971 British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand, the only Lions side ever to win a series against the All Black but to my mind his gratest moment was when he refused to lead them in South Africa.
He was a vocal opponent of apartheid and during the controversial 1969/70 Sprinbok tour he prepared the Llanelli team but stayed in the dressing room as a protest.
The fact that he was a Plaid Member and turned down a OBE couldn't have helped.
But its about time the WRU honored his genius and memory.
But what about the news this evening, we can see William Windsor say that he is English,
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