Prince William’s speech

Well, it was a bit bad, because:
- he was in a formal setting, so his grammar should have been polished
- he was reading from a script which someone should have checked through beforehand
If he's out on the street talking in a relaxed manner, no one notices or cares.

I would expect much better English from the heir to the throne Who represents us on the world stage

Not suitable. ?

A great honour to Catherine and I. Oh dear.

There’s me, not Eton, but a sec mod girl, left at 15. no exams, and yet it grates on me. (Or is that I. ? Ha ha am kidding.).

He just needed to miss out the Catherine bit and say to himself
It’s a great honour for I ….. yes that sounds wrong .

To soften the Me, he could have said ‘for Catherine and for me’ like the newscasters used to say when signing off. Goodnight from David and goodnight from me, easy peasy.

Actually I quite like that he made this common mistake.

Ilovecheese

Anniebach

But questioning his suitability as heir !

Nobody did.

I certainly didn’t.

Technically speaking, he said it wrong.
So does Boris, so does Starmer. It seems an irritatingly common slip.
I agree, content is more important.

Language changes and evolves while I am sure what you were taught 50+ years ago may well have been the correct way then, doesn't necessarily mean that is how it is spoken of taught today.

Barleyfields

Or me and the wife.

Anniebach

But questioning his suitability as heir !

Nobody did.

Or me and the wife.

Or her and me is. !

It could have been worse .... it could have been "Me and Catherine ...."

But questioning his suitability as heir !

I’m a dyed in the wool pedant Aldom, but there are limits to the nits I pick.

Anniebach

The late Queen - ‘My husband and I’ , and she was and is respected

It’s correct in some instances, but not in others, as has been discussed - though in fact I did hear the late Queen get it wrong once.

NonGrannyMoll - good points!

The late Queen - ‘My husband and I’ , and she was and is respected

Barleyfields no it doesn't matter, but the OP is in Pedants Corner. If the OP had been posted in CHAT or similar, then that would be a different matter.

I'm afraid that "... and I" is now used no matter whether I am the subject or the object of the sentence. Poor grammar teaching is at the heart of today's common use of howlers. It has been going on for decades, so we now have at least one, maybe two, generations of teachers who were never taught well in the first place. What amazes me is the number of apparently intelligent, articulate people of my age (who in their time had the advantage of at least halfway decent English teaching) who say it isn't important. Why is their own language not important to them? Are we really a nation of such losers that we don't give a flying fandango about our native tongue? Yes, language is an evolving thing, but do we really have to allow it to "evolve" through ignorance and a lack of regard for our children's literacy?

Does it matter? I’m more interested in what he has to say and how he lives his life than whether his grammar is always impeccable.

Honour for me is correct. I tend to think these things out multiple times, that would not be possible speaking in public.

Whether it’s ‘me’ or ‘I’ depends on how you would say it if on your own, as Grandma says.

So often it’s used incorrectly, I always notice.

Crossed posts, welbeck.

crazyH

Yes Sarnia - I’m sure I was taught the same.

But in the grand scheme of things, does it really matter ?

I’m not disputing the fact that the content was most important - it’s the first thing I mention - but this is Pedants’ Corner, and I was commenting on his command of the English language.

“Catherine and I” was incorrect in this instance. If you ever did Latin, it’s the difference between nominative and accusative. “Catherine and I are greatly honoured “ would be correct. You would say “I am greatly honoured”, but would you say “It is a great honour for I”? Of course you wouldn’t. Similarly, it’s incorrect to say “ It’s a great honour for Catherine and I.”

Agree with others.
It's totally unimportant.
I don't suppose he writes out his speeches in full himself anyway.
He's too busy esp with choosing to be a hands on father as well as his unique public role.
He may give some pointers to be included and leave another to draft it.
I'm sure he wouldn't read anything he didn't agree with.
The meaning is perfectly clear and it is becoming standard usage through repetition.
For those wondering the simple way to check which is correct old school style is to remove the other person from the phrase. Would you say
It is a great honour to I ....
? Probably not.
But you might say
It is a great honour to me....

Yes Sarnia - I’m sure I was taught the same.

But in the grand scheme of things, does it really matter ?

I thought that too Sarnia but in terms of what his speech was about, I think it's irrelevant.