In A Royal Slip Up, Prince Williams Confuses Japan With China & People Aren't Too Impressed

Saying ni hao instead of konnichi wa is something that Japanese people get very easily offended over. May be not all, but a significant number. Mixing up Chinese people with the Japanese is not taken lightly. And, recently, Prince William got caught in this mix-up.

AFP

In a royal slip up, during the opening of a Japanese cultural centre in London, he asked kids present if they liked Chinese food.

Prince William was in great form at the opening of @japanhouseldn - charming & engaging. But even a royal diplomat can make the odd bloop. Such as asking local schoolchildren at the event to highlight Japanese culture if they had eaten much Chinese food! He quickly recovered tho! pic.twitter.com/72swlvNbk0

¡ª Rebecca English (@RE_DailyMail) 13 September 2018

"Sorry, Japanese food. Have you had much Japanese food?" he said during a tour of Japan House where he was accompanied by Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso.

Although he immediately corrected himself, the video went viral, saying it's a mistake which could hurt sentiments. According to an AFP report, it¡¯s the second time in six weeks that a British representative has confused the two countries, the report added.

"The odd bloop". This man's only responsibility is to show up at events that his staff organize for him and know his audience. He's just bad at his job.

¡ª TorontoKate (@TorontoKateD) 13 September 2018

In July, British foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt reportedly tried to impress officials in Beijing by talking about his Chinese wife, but ended up identifying her as Japanese, states the report.