Councillor who shared ‘Kill the King’ song on Facebook insists it wasn’t about Charles

A Llandudno Junction 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 account. ‌​‌‌​​​‌‍‌​‌​‌​​​

The Glyn-y-Marl ward Labour councillor posted the song onto his Facebook “story” on Thursday, together with a photo of Conwy 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. ‌​‌‌​​​‌‍‌​‌​‌​​​

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 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. ‌​‌‌​​​‌‍‌​‌​‌​​​

He said: “I’ve got a councillor page, which is usually information, but this was my personal Facebook page. ‌​‌‌​​​‌‍‌​‌​‌​​​

“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.” ‌​‌‌​​​‌‍‌​‌​‌​​​

By Richard Evans – Local Democracy Reporter ‌​‌‌​​​‌‍‌​‌​‌​​​