The Chase star Anne Hegerty left her followers furious after she declared she would ārather celebrate Shakespeareās birthdayā than St Georgeās Day. Her comment came after one user took to the social site to complain: āWhy is St Andrewās Day never filled with tedious people going, āhe was Galilean actuallyā?ā Referring to the fact that St George was from Turkey, and never visited England. Anne responded: āOne reason being that the Scots donāt care much. They prefer Hogmanay and Burns Night. Iād rather celebrate Shakespeareās birthday.ā
St George inspired the flagĀ (Image: Getty)
She added: āThe only reason heās our patron saint is that he has a simple cross that Richard the Lionheart found useful as a crusader uniform. Shakespeare is quintessential England.ā
The user then fumed that there should be a bank holiday for it, and told Anne that heās āfamously seen as the ideal Christian knight,ā and the āwarrior saintā. They hit back: āShakespeare wrote plays, thatās about it. He should be celebrated, but he isnāt on the same level.ā
St George, despite never visiting England, became a Saint due to his reputation for virtue and holiness and his feast day, which is April 23, was then celebrated in England from the early 8th century.
He became incredibly popular with English kings, with Edward I having banners wearing the eblem of St George, now recognised as the England Flag, while Edward III had a great interest in him and owned a relic of his blood, according to English-Heritage.org.
However, the St Georgeās cross didnāt actually become Englandās national flag until the 16th century. While England holds the St Georgeās flag as their own, it isnāt the only country to celebrate him, with Venice, Genoa, Portugal, Ethiopia and Catalonia some of the many locations to celebrate him.
In recent months the flag has been a subject of contention, with many councils making people take it down after an influx in them went up and plastered around various towns and cities.
