After his and Kate Middleton’s first evening of their three-day visit to Ireland, Prince William seems to be in hot water on Twitter after making a, possibly, insensitive joke about “spreading” the coronavirus.
Too soon, maybe?
RELATED STORIES
Prince William may have overstepped earlier this week, on the first evening of his three-day visit to Ireland.
It’s rare for the Duke of Cambridge to receive aggressive backlash online.
But this time, Twitter is not holding back.
In a conversation with emergency workers at a reception in Dublin hosted by Britain’s ambassador to Ireland, Prince William joked about “spreading” the coronavirus.
He also questioned the angle in which the media has been covering the global health scare.
FYI, according to online statistics, there have been, globally, 96,951 coronavirus cases reported so far, and counting.
3,190 have died , and 53,981 people have had it and recovered.
Italy has shut down all schools amidst 3,089 cases being reported in the country, as well as 107 deaths.
276 of those reported cases have recovered so far.
According to the UK’s Department of Health and Social Care, 16,659 people have been tested for the virus in the UK, and there are 85 confirmed cases.
Anyways, considering the number of people who have died because of the virus so far, it doesn’t exactly seem like a great time to be making a joke about it.
“I bet everyone’s like ‘I’ve got coronavirus, I’m dying,’ and you’re like ‘no, you’ve just got a cough,'” William said, speaking to Joe Mooney, an advance paramedic with the National Ambulance Service.
“By the way, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are spreading coronavirus , sorry.”
“We’re keeping an eye on that, so do tell us if we need to stop,” he added.
He then suggested that the virus is not as big of a deal as the media has been making it out to be — explaining that they’ve been hyping it up.
“Does it seem quite dramatic about coronavirus at the moment?,” he said.
“Is it being a little bit hyped up, do you think, in the media ?”
William’s remarks about the coronavirus come not long after news emerged that he and Kate Middleton are following guidance from Public Health England.
They’ve been instructed to take the “business as usual” angle on the threat for the time being.
The responses to William’s comments have not been great…
People think that his remarks were disrespectful toward those who have recently died from the virus, but accurately reflect the “institution” he represents.
This person thought William’s joke was in poor taste.
They also pointed out that his brother, Harry, would have probably handled the situation very differently.
Another person sarcastically called William and Kate a “charming couple” after pointing out that Kate has recently had an insensitive, out-of-touch moment, herself.
Their privilege is showing!
This person called William a “narcissist” for making a joke out of something that is so serious.
They paired their tweet with photos of people wearing masks in public, trying to protect themselves from contracting the virus.
Some people wrote that joking about something that has killed so many and can still kill more, is “pathetic”.
Evidently, Twitter was not impressed.
What do you think of Prince William’s joke about “spreading” the coronavirus?
And what do you think about his comments on the media coverage of the virus?
Sound off in the comments below!
