The 40-year-old royal, who is the oldest son of King Charles III, and his wife, Catherine, Princess of Wales, visited the country on September 27 for the first time since they were given the titles.
- Sep 28, 2022
AceShowbiz - Prince William has been learning Welsh since becoming the new Prince of Wales. Following the death of Queen Elizabeth on September 8th, the 40-year-old royal was given the title as his father King Charles took over the throne this month. William and his wife, Catherine, Princess of Wales, visited the country on Tuesday, September 27, for the first time since they were given the titles.
"He talked about learning Welsh and shared some Welsh phrases he's trying to do," Rev. Steven Bunting, who hosted the couple at St. Thomas's Church in Swansea, told PEOPLE. The prince is said to have had a go at saying "bara brith", which is traditional Welsh tea bread, and "paned," which means a cup.
Steven, whose church is home to a food bank, which supports more than 200 people per week, continued, "He is throwing himself into the new role. The fact that they've come straight here on day one says it all. It was remarkable. The Prince and Princess of Wales spoke to everyone in the building - young and old. They are clearly committed to listening to the stories of the people in Wales. They were incredibly interested in everybody. You try to stick to a certain plan, but they were having none of it. They were having none of it and wanted to speak to everyone."
As well as Swansea, the royal couple visited Anglesey, where they lived for three years after marrying in April 2011. William and Catherine, both 40, met crew and volunteers at the RNLI Holyhead Lifeboat Station in Anglesey. The prince and princess' visit to Wales was their first official duty since the end of the official period of mourning since the queen's death aged 96.
Earlier this month, Mark Drakeford, the First Minister of Wales, urged William to learn Welsh, but insisted "nobody is expecting miracles". Asked whether William should learn Welsh, the politician acknowledged the language can be tough to learn as an adult, but added, "I'm quite sure that the incoming Prince of Wales will want to recognise the importance of the Welsh language and the part it plays in shaping the identity of contemporary Wales. I don't think anybody will expect somebody to have a suddenly acquired fluency in the Welsh language, but an interest in the language, being willing to use the language at the margins of what people do, all of that will be understood and appreciated. Nobody will be expecting miracles."
Additionally, Mark praised William for telling him he was keen to take his new responsibilities on slowly to ensure his knowledge of Wales and the issues it faces were "fully established". He divulged, "I have had one conversation with the new Prince of Wales. We didn't directly talk about the investiture. But he did say to me, that he wanted to take on his new responsibilities slowly, that he wanted to give time for his own knowledge of Wales, and the things that matter in the Wales of today, to be fully established. I thought that was very sensible as an approach to taking on those new responsibilities."
Charles and his wife, Queen Consort Camilla, visited Wales on September 16th as part of their tour of the nations of the UK following the death of the queen a week before.
