A county in the US state of Virginia bears the name "Prince William". This apparently causes confusion for some: A municipal website receives a flood of emails after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Including many expressions of condolences, but also curious requests.
The death of Queen Elizabeth II not only brings a lot of mail to the British royal family, but also to a municipal news website in the USA. The website princewilliamliving.com, which usually reports on things like traffic accidents, festivals and community projects from the county of Prince William, Virginia, is among the first results when Google users "contact Prince William". ) enter.
Apparently, some users don't look too closely and say and write to princewilliamliving.com what they actually wanted to say to the British heir to the throne. As a result, the site is currently dealing with a barrage of calls and emails of condolences, including poems, drawings and sometimes odd requests.
Publisher Rebecca Barnes said about 40 such condolences were received in one day. They come from all over the world, such as India, Bhutan, Japan, Egypt, North and South America and England. "Even people in England don't know how to google," joked Barnes.
Expressions of condolence are not always selfless. A teenager, who claims to be a huge fan of the Royals, expressed the hope of being invited to the Queen's funeral. In another message, someone offered to work as a housekeeper for the royals. "I'm a very clean person," the letter said.
The Prince William Borough does not take its name from Elizabeth II's grandson, but was named after the Duke of Cumberland, third son of George II, when it was founded in 1731. But because many didn't know this, there was confusion, said Barnes. For years, her website has received messages from fans of the British royal family, especially when the royals are in the media a lot.
Barnes long ago gave up answering all such letters. Recently, however, she couldn't help herself when a man wrote to her asking if he could become the next King of England. "Who am I to stand in his way," Barnes said. "I texted him back to send an application."
