So, are you the Prince of Wales or not?
Movie star Sheen asks why Wills backs England
Holding the title Prince of Wales while supporting England is inappropriate
MICHAEL SHEEN ON WILLIAM’S SPORTING LOYALTIES
WELSH film star Michael Sheen has hit out at Prince William for supporting England in the World Cup while he is Prince of Wales.
Wales and England are due to meet in the group stages of the Qatar tournament on November 29.
William, who is President of the Football Association, visited the England players on Monday to hand out their squad numbers before they jetted off to the Middle East.
The heir to the throne, 40, told the team: “The country is behind you”, later adding: “I’ll see you in the final”.
But award-winner Sheen, 53, whose rousing speech to the Welsh squad which went viral ahead of their World Cup appearance, said yesterday: “William can, of course, support whoever he likes and as President of FA his role makes his visit understandable –but surely he sees holding the title Prince of Wales at same time is entirely inappropriate.
“Not a shred of embarrassment? Or sensitivity to the problem here?”
Sources close to William have said he is “aware” of the sensitivities of taking the title in September after the Queen’s death.
But courtiers insist William and his wife Kate, now Princess of Wales, want to “deepen” their understanding of issues that matter most to the Welsh.
In a sign of his dual role, the Prince yesterday visited the Welsh Senedd in Cardiff and tried his hand at a few words of Welsh, which he is said to be learning.
William, patron of the Welsh Rugby
Union since 2016, described the delicate balancing of his sporting allegiances: “I’m telling everyone I’m supporting both, definitely. I can’t lose.
“I’ve supported England since I’ve been quite small. But I support Welsh rugby and that’s my way of doing it. I happily support Wales over England in the rugby. I’ve got to play carefully with my affiliations.
“If I suddenly drop England to support Wales that doesn’t look right for the sport either.”
The Prince also addressed calls for him to learn Welsh, saying: “I need to brush up on mine.
“I can do Bore Da (good morning). I’m very happy to speak a bit of Welsh, I just won’t be able to do much.” There are currently no plans for William to follow his father with a formal investiture as Prince of Wales. Queen Elizabeth bestowed the title on King Charles at Caernarfon Castle in July 1969.
HOLLYWOOD stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have poked fun at themselves once more in a new comedy Wrexham AFC video.
It again stars the Welsh translator who appeared in a previous clip pouring scorn on the Hollywood duo, who bought the club in 2020.
This time the pair promote a range of club Christmas cards and gifts adorned with Welsh phrases disparaging the actor-owners.
A print of a sheep has a caption translating as: “This sheep knows more about football than Rob and Ryan.”
A mug is captioned: “Break this over your head if Rob and Ryan start discussing football”, and a pillow has the message: “We wish you a Merry Christmas free from Ryan’s jokes.”
And two Christmas cards translate as: “Merry Christmas from two incompetent idiots,” and “Let the owners be eaten by dragons.”
Journalist Maxine Hughes played a translator in the earlier promo for their Welcome to Wrexham series on Disney+ which tells the story of
Let the Wrexham owners be eaten by dragons
CHRISTMAS CARD
their takeover. In it she said in Welsh of the unsuspecting pair: “There’s no way these two can manage a football club.” And she continues the running joke in the new footage as Deadpool star Ryan, 46, says in a voiceover: “This year, the world got to know our team Wrexham AFC.”
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star Rob, 45, adds: “And now, we’re bringing that same Welsh spirit to your holiday gifts with the subtitle collection.” Ryan says: “Designed by us and translated by our Welsh friend, Maxine. I love how these turned out. “And Maxine, you’ve checked that the translations will go over OK?” Maxine tells him: “I think they’ll go over more than OK.” The gifts are available from the Wrexham AFC website with proceeds going to the Ty Pawb Community Centre. Welcome to Wrexham has been such a hit that global sales of club merchandise have soared from £59,000 last year to over £360,000. paul.byrne@mirror.co.uk