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Is Wills' Irish Title a Political Move?

Royal family may be reasserting control in Northern Ireland: Niall O'Dowd

By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff

Posted May 2, 2011 1:55 PM CDT

(Newser) – William wore an Irish Guards uniform; Kate’s wedding dress featured lace shamrocks; and along with his new status as Duke of Cambridge, Prince William has gained an Irish title: Baron Carrickfergus. Was it all a nod to the Irish, wonders Niall O’Ferguson at IrishCentral, or “something more in your face”—perhaps “a deliberate effort to state categorically that a part of Ireland was still under British rule and that the Irish could like it or lump it?”

As Baron Carrickfergus, William “lays claim to disputed land between the Irish and the British” which was “settled by Protestant planters in the 16th century when the native Irish were driven off.” It’s where King William of Orange landed “to enforce Protestant domination.” Indeed, the title “will provide valuable fodder for those republican dissidents who claim nothing has really changed in Northern Ireland,” O’Ferguson notes. “None of these decisions are made by accident.” Click to read the entire piece.

Prince William at his fanciest best, in an Irish Guards uniform, as he arrives at Westminster Abbey with his brother, Prince Harry. (AP Photo/Steve Parsons, PA)

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Is Wills' Irish Title a Political Move?

Royal family may be reasserting control in Northern Ireland: Niall O'Dowd

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