Prince William has been named as the new patron of the National Emergencies Trust, but his comments on the coronavirus crisis have caused some controversy online.
- The royal said in a statement that he thinks Britain is at ‘its best when faced with a crisis’.
- Despite adding that he thinks it’s because communities pull together, his comment was met with criticism online.
- This follows royal news that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge shared a lovely picture to celebrate Easter.
It was announced yesterday that Prince William would be adding Patron of the National Emergencies Trust to his current duties.
The announcement came at the same time the organisation revealed it recently had distributed £5m of funding among charities across the UK to help them deal with the coronavirus outbreak.
Speaking of the appointment, Lord Dannatt, Chairman of the National Emergencies Trust, said, “After his steadfast support for the National Emergencies Trust from our launch last November through into this Coronavirus Appeal, all connected with the NET are delighted that The Duke of Cambridge has honoured our work by becoming our Patron for 2020.
"We look forward to working with him, and our partners in the UK Community Foundation network, to help communities across the country tackle the dramatic rise in food poverty as well as the many other increasingly pressing social issues arising from this crisis.”
Prince William also commented on the announcement, saying, “I think Britain is at its best when faced with a crisis. We all pull together and that community spirit comes rushing back quicker than anything else.”
However, despite his comments being made to praise Britons for their strong sense of community (which we've been documenting in our Good News series), they were met with a lot of backlash online.
Prince William was trending on Twitter, with plenty of people arguing criticising his comment.
One said, ‘I am sorry but prince William is talking rubbish, Britain doesn't want a crisis to be at it best l just want Life to be normal again William is living in a privilege position where the normal stresses of life don't exist.’
‘I don't know about you but I'd rather that my country isn't "at its best" when over 10,000, and counting, people die’, another added.
‘Oh yes - we're all at our best when people are dying from a virus. C'mon William I like you but this...’, a third also commented.
However, others pointed out that his comment was taken out of context. One said, ‘I think everyone is taking Prince William’s comments out of context and far too literally.’
What do you think about the discussion? Head over to our Facebook page and let us know, we’d love to hear you take!
