Bonnie Prince Bolognese

The other day I was listening to a BBC Radio advert for some new historical drama about Bonnie Prince Charlie – all swelling strings, galloping hooves, and reverent tones muttering about destiny and thrones. Then the man himself piped up. And what do I hear? A pronounced Scottish accent. Rolling Rs. That soft Highland lilt – all very “Och aye, the Hanoverians are doon the glen!”

That made me curious - he wasn't raised in Scotland and so was very unlikely to have a Scottish accent. I did some digging.

Bonnie Prince Charlie didn’t sound Scottish at all. He was born in Rome, raised in Italy, educated in French, and could probably tell you more about Florentine tailoring than clan loyalty. His English was passable – just – but always tinged with continental vowels and the crisp elocution of a man more used to pronouncing "mon Dieu" than "moose stew."

The BBC, along with every romanticised tartan-flinging drama since the dawn of telly, insists on handing him the voice of a Gaelic bard. But the reality? He probably addressed the clans with something like “Bon amici, we go-a fight-a for zee throne, yes?” Cue the Highlanders exchanging puzzled glances and wondering if they'd joined a rebellion or been invited to a wine tasting.

The truth was that Bonnie Prince Charlie sounded like a European courtier. Because that’s exactly what he was. He wasn’t a Highlander. He wasn’t even Scottish by upbringing. He was a pampered exile with delusions of grandeur and the military instincts of a confused but well-meaning maître d’.

But history on screen doesn’t care about that. What matters is that the hero has the right accent – which, bizarrely, means the wrong one. A soft, musical voice speaking English with Italianate phrasing doesn’t cut it for prime-time drama. So instead, we get a fictional brogue, kilts, and the ludicrous idea that Culloden was lost not due to dire planning, but because of tragic romance and wet heather.

So next time you hear “Scottish” Charlie rallying the clans in perfect BBC Highlandese, remember: the real Bonnie Prince probably pronounced “Culloden” like a pasta dish – and wouldn’t have known a sporran from a soufflé.