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‘Prince of Whales’: Trump tweet misspelling Prince Charles’ title boosts B.C. business

U.S. president brags about speaking with the Prince of Whales rather than Prince of Wales
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Victoria-based Prince of Whales Whale and Marine Wildlife Adventures has been the unintentional object of attention from U.S. President Donald J. Trump, when he confused Prince Charles — the Prince of Wales — with the Prince of Whales. (Prince of Whales Whale and Marine Wildlife Adventures / Twitter)

Yet another verbal gaffe from U.S. President Donald J. Trump may end up boosting a local business.

Maureen Kinahan, communications coordinator with Prince of Whales Whale and Marine Wildlife Adventures, said it is too early to tell what sort of impact Trump’s tweet about talking with the Prince of Whales might end up having on the business. But one thing appears certain.

“We can definitely expect a lot more engagement, ” she said.

In the since-corrected tweet, Trump took umbrage with critics, after he had said in an television interview that he would not necessarily contact law enforcement officials if a foreign power would offer him information on political opponents in perhaps confirming the worst suspicious of those who see him as Russian pawn.

“I meet and talk to ‘foreign governments’ every day. I just met with the Queen of England (U.K.), the Prince of Whales, the P.M. of the United Kingdom, the P.M. of Ireland, the President of France and the” read the tweet.

While Trump clearly meant Prince Charles, who holds the royal title of Prince of Wales, Trump’s spelling error (to be charitable) sent the internet into a, well, feeding frenzy, sparking countless memes, as well as stories on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) among others.

Like so many of his previous gaffes, Trump’s faux-pax will likely disappear into the netherworlds of social media until the next howler.

But Prince of Whales Whale and Marine Wildlife Adventures certainly stands to benefit in one way or another, when parts of the company’s name — albeit unintentionally — appear in more than 70,000 tweets and #Princeofwhales was the leading trend on Twitter in North America.

Kinahan, who found herself surprised as well, said it has helped raise brand awareness.

Like so many Prince of Whales employees, Kinahan found herself surprised, with many reaching out to her.

“It’s absolutely entertaining as well,” she said.


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wolfgang.depner@saanichnews.com



Wolf Depner

About the Author: Wolf Depner

I joined the national team with Black Press Media in 2023 from the Peninsula News Review, where I had reported on Vancouver Island's Saanich Peninsula since 2019.
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