Michael Sheen has launched a scathing attack on King Charles' visit to Wales on Owain Glyndŵr day, saying that if it was done on purpose, "it seems insensitive to the point of insulting".
The Welsh actor stood against the backdrop of a sandy beach and blue sky and said "it was a beautiful day, as well as a very important day" in Wales on Friday. Not only did Friday, September 16, mark the first official visit to Wales by the new King Charles III, it was also Owain Glyndŵr Day, he said.
Owain Glyndŵr is one of Wales' most notable historical figures and is known throughout the nation as the last (self proclaimed) native prince of Wales. Every year, people gather in the town square to mark Owain Glyndŵr Day on September 16 - the date in which Glyndŵr's proclamation took place in 1400. Usually, the event consists of a procession and wreath laying ceremony by the statue of Glyndŵr right at the heart of the town, before a service is carried out at a local church. But this year, part of the celebrations were cancelled in the name of King Charles' visit to the Welsh capital.
Read more: 'I queued all night to meet King Charles and he told me I shouldn't have bothered'
Sheen said he was adding his voice to the many others who have noted the irony of celebrations for Owain Glyndwr's day being cancelled because of the visit of an English monarch. He added: "I hope its not a declaration of intent because that would be very concerning."
Sheen acknowledged the Queen's death as an "emotional era defining period of time" and lamented the loss of "so much history and tradition" as well as great "sadness and grief". He offered his condolences to the Royal family and said: "For people who are proud of their Britishness, the queen is very much a symbol of that." But then he continued by saying there was "more than one story in these isles" .
"There is more than one tradition, there is more than one history," he said. Read more about the protests from anti-monarchy groups outside Cardiff Castle earlier on Friday.
He continued: "Today is a very important day as well because September 16 is the day that many people in Wales celebrate Owain Glyndŵr, who was the last native prince of Wales (self proclaimed)...Owain Glyndŵr led a rebellion, which went on for 15 years but he was eventually crushed and that was the last time Wales had a native Prince of Wales."
It was King Edward I who began the tradition of creating the Prince of Wales by naming his own son Prince Edward Prince of Wales in a "sort of symbolic act of rebuke or punishment and humiliation", said Sheen. It was intended to "stop a Welsh nation developing and emerging which was the dream of Owain Glyndŵr", he added.
Owain Glyndŵr day and the King's visit are "obviously connected" according to Sheen, who said: "Because of course to choose September 16 to come to Wales having only a short time ago proclaimed that he had created his son William as the new Prince of Wales and to choose this this day September 16 to come here as his first visit as King seems full of meaning."
If it had been chosen deliberately, "it seems insensitive to the point of insulting," Sheen said before continuing: "If it was done without realising the significance of the date then one does wonder what being Prince of Wales for so long actually meant if you're not aware of what that day means."
Read next:
- Charlotte Church blows away Ryan Reynolds with stunning rendition of Welsh anthem
I queued all night to meet King Charles and he told me I shouldn't have bothered
Mark Drakeford says 'We need to have a debate about the Prince of Wales'
The photos that tell the story of Charles III's first visit to Cardiff as King
