‘Charles will be hurt by row over bridge name’
ABIOGRAPHER of the Prince of Wales has predicted the heir to the throne will be “very hurt” by the controversy which has surrounded the announcement that the second Severn crossing will be named in his honour.
More than 33,900 people have signed a petition protesting against the change of name to The Prince of Wales Bridge.
Tom Bower, who made headlines with his recent biography, Rebel Prince, said: “I think he’ll be very hurt. He’s very sensitive about his popularity or unpopularity.
“I think he’ll find very upset about that.”
He added: “I think the Prince of Wales likes exciting controversy but doesn’t like it when the controversy is critical of him.”
Campaigners against the name change have objected to the lack of public consultation, although the Welsh Government was informed of the plans and raised no objections. The UK Government’s Department for Transport and Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns did not take up invitations yesterday to comment on the opposition to last Thursday’s announcement.
Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine, expected the Prince would be unhappy to be caught up in a politically charged controversy. She said: “I’m sure he would probably be quite annoyed and blame somebody else for allowing the controversy to happen or for not consulting people.” She added: “I suppose because it’s Wales and because he is the Prince of Wales, Prince Charles is being informed on this issue and he would probably say, ‘Well, why on earth [weren’t] these people consulted?’” Royal commentator and author Christopher Warwick also felt that the Prince would “regret the controversy” but expected the decision to rename the bridge would have been “nothing to do” with him. Christopher Wilson, the author of The Windsor Knot and other books on the royals, predicted the Prince would take a more cheerful approach, although he argued that there will be supporters of the monarchy who do not want to see the bridge renamed.
Mr Wilson said that “many Welsh people may well support the royal family but object to not being consulted over the naming”.
Welsh Secretary Mr Cairns last week said there will “some republicans who will dislike it” but Mr Wilson cautioned against “insulting royalists who just happen to have a mind of their own”.
He expected the Prince will take a relaxed attitude to the row, saying: “Prince Charles won’t mind the fuss – as royal number two you don’t get many great edifices named after you. And there is the bonus that if the bridge is named after him, he might use it a little more often to visit the principality whose name he bears.”
Strong backing for the name change came from Maureen Kelly Owen from Penarth, a former Conservative councillor and architect who was a member of the Prince of Wales’ Committee for the Welsh Environment.
She admired the regeneration work this body enabled and said the Prince “most definitely” took a personal interest in Wales.
She stressed his commitment to the environment, saying: “He does feel very strongly about it... As a person, I just think he is dedicated to what he is trying to bring about.”
Defending the name change, she said: “There are lots of good things that he has done for the principality and [I’m] surprised that people are so ignorant of it all, really.”
Monmouth Conservative MP David Davies, who chairs the Welsh Affairs select committee, did not want a consultation to be launched, saying: “It’s not a huge issue for me. I mean, I’d be perfectly happy to see it called the Prince of Wales Bridge...
“I think we need to take careful note of the fact that 1% of the population don’t like the idea... I just don’t see any point at all in a long and expensive consultation on this.
“We all know that the only people who take the trouble to reply will be the 1% who feel strongly that they don’t like the monarchy for whatever reason because they want an independent republic of Wales.”