Councillor explains ‘Kill the King’ Facebook post after royalist …

A Llandudno Junction[1] councillor says a Facebook post which featured a song called "Kill the King" was not intended to be anti-monarchy. Cllr Dave Jones came under fire from angry royalists when he posted the song by rock band Rainbow onto his personal Facebook[2] account.

The Glyn-y-Marl ward Labour[3] councillor posted the song onto his Facebook "story" on Thursday, together with a photo of Conwy[4] Castle - five days after King Charles III was crowned. Cllr Jones said Facebook then automatically added the song’s lyrics to the post, which has since been removed.

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The lyrics added by Facebook read: "Kill the King, Tear Him Down, Kill the King, yeah, Strike him Down." Cllr Jones’ post was then shared on Twitter[5] by an angry constituent, who tagged Labour leader Keir Starmer in the tweet.

But Cllr Jones defended the post, insisting he didn’t mean to offend anyone. “I’ve got a councillor page, which is usually information, but this was my personal Facebook page,” he said.

“I used a picture and created a Facebook story, using a song by the band Rainbow, and the picture is of Conwy Castle. I think most people know King Edward built this castle to help rule over north and mid-Wales, hence my use of the song ‘Kill the King’, which is a medieval-type soundtrack.

“So it has nothing to do with our present King Charles III. When I posted this yesterday, which was May 11, King Charles was never in my mind. The only thing that was in my mind was that it was a lovely picture of Conwy Castle and that Conwy Castle was built by Edward I.

"Edward I built it to rule over North Wales, and I just thought it was a fun thing to do to put the song ‘Kill the King’ on the post. OK, Edward I has been dead a long time, but it was just because he built the castle.”

He added: “If me putting a song on social media offended royalists, it’s a song and I didn’t put it there about our present king.”

A spokeswoman for Conwy County Council said: “The post has been made by the councillor in his personal capacity and is not linked to Conwy County Borough Council in any way."

References

  1. ^ Llandudno Junction (www.dailypost.co.uk)
  2. ^ Facebook (www.dailypost.co.uk)
  3. ^ Labour (www.dailypost.co.uk)
  4. ^ Conwy (www.dailypost.co.uk)
  5. ^ Twitter (www.dailypost.co.uk)
  6. ^ Llandudno bar that closed suddenly has been sold at auction (www.dailypost.co.uk)