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Michael Sheen Explains Why He Gave Back His OBE

Michael Sheen Explains Why He Gave Back His OBE

The 51-year-old Welsh actor criticised 'past wrongs' and said Prince William should never be made Prince of Wales

Rebecca Shepherd

Rebecca Shepherd

Michael Sheen has revealed that he handed his OBE back after receiving it back in 2009.

The 51-year-old Welsh actor explained how he undertook the potentially controversial move because he was giving a lecture on the history of his native Wales which included speaking about 'past wrongs' committed by England.

As well as that, he also politically opposed Prince William eventually being made Prince of Wales - the title currently held by Prince Charles which will go to his son once he becomes king.

Sheen said he handed his Order of the British Empire (OBE) back in 2017 before giving the lecture.

PA

Speaking to columnist Owen Jones, he said: "In my research to do that lecture I learnt a lot about Welsh history. I'm still standing at the foothills of an understanding of all that, but that was a crash course.

"By the time I'd finished writing that lecture, I remember sitting there going, 'Well, I have a choice. I either don't give this lecture and hold on to my OBE or I give this lecture and I have to give my OBE back'. I wanted to still give the lecture so I gave my OBE back."

He went on to add: "I said, 'I mean absolutely no disrespect by doing this, I don't want to cause a big fuss about it'.

"People go, 'Why are you getting so upset about things that happened hundreds of years ago?' But it's true, it still has a power here."

The father-of-two explained that the title 'Prince of Wales' (the one Prince William will inherit once Prince Charles steps up to the throne) is wrong.

He explained: "The idea of the Prince of Wales and that being an Englishman and the history of that."

PA

He said that he believes the Queen is a 'remarkable person who's done exemplary service to the country' but went on: "I'm asking for no more or less than to make a break there - put some things that have been wrongs of the past right.

"There's an opportunity to do that at that point."

He said the monarchy should not carry on the 'humiliation' to Wales because of 'habit'.

According to the Daily Mail, during the 2017 Raymond Williams lecture, Sheen called for Welsh independence saying: "Who speaks for Wales? Nobody."

He added: "Wales has suffered and is suffering acute economic, political, and cultural strains, and by the fact of history has to try and resolve them in a world of crude power relationships and distant parliaments."

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Entertainment, Celebrity