Crown actor received ‘sweet’ letter from Caernarfon fan calling him ‘the true Prince of Wales’ after Welsh speech

The actor who played Prince Charles in the Crown has said that it was “really sweet” that he received a letter from someone in Caernarfon telling him he’d done a good job learning Welsh and that he was the “true Prince of Wales”.

Josh O’Connor said that for his first day of filming in the role, at Caernarfon Castle, he had memorised Prince Charles’ entire investiture speech in Welsh – a language he didn’t speak.

He told The Wrap said he was “seized by panic” on receiving the script and realising what he would have to do, but that he felt that it paid off after he received the appreciative note from someone from Caernarfon.

“I learned the entire speech in Welsh. I know, yeah, pretty intense,” the actor said. “I did a film years ago in Wales where I played a Welshman, but I didn’t speak any Welsh.

“But I feel a real affinity for the Welsh people and the Welsh language. It was sort of the most exciting thing.

“As soon as I took on the role, that was the first episode I’d read, my first episode as Charles and that was my initial seizing of panic cause I just thought, ‘I’ve got to learn this entire speech in Welsh.’ And Charles himself struggled with it.

“And my first-ever day filming with everyone– so I did a fair amount of filming on my own, and with other actors, but my first day filming with Olivia Colman, Helena Bonham Carter, Tobias Menzies, Marion Bailey, Erin Doherty — all these people, my first day was doing that speech in Caernarfon Castle in Wales.”

‘Lovely’

Josh O’Connor added that he wished they could have first seen him perform on a day when he was playing Prince Charles and “speaking English”.

“And how they must think I’m completely mad, which I’m sure they did,” he said. “But it was fun and we worked very hard to make sure that it was right.

“And in the end, I received a letter from a member of the public in Caernarfon who was an extra that day, and they sent me a lovely note and a candle saying, ‘Thank you to the true Prince of Wales.’ Which I thought was very sweet.”

Series five of the Crown, in which Dominic West will be playing Prince Charles, will be released by Netflix in November 2022.