Serial letter writer Prince Charles has so far resisted the lure of Twitter to hold forth on his many strong opinions on subjects spanning architecture and education — and now we know why.
For the Prince of Wales, texting and social media have left the Queen's English "under mortal threat".
The outspoken Royal, speaking at an event to mark 500 years of Royal Mail, said, "In these days of texting and various social media apps, the well-constructed sentence is under mortal threat.
"I can only say how strongly I feel that the logical ordering of thoughts in proper, grammatically correct prose is in fact rather important at the end of the day."
Presumably, one is excused the odd grammatical error at the start of the day.
As the Mail reported, the prince takes issue with the "140 characters or less culture" fostered by Twitter.
The self-confessed grammar nut and letter writerhas also held forthright views on the British education system, having been a keen promoter of grammar schools.
Alas, the British public was never made privy to the results of Charles' six O-levels — including English language and English literature — although we know he had to retake maths (perhaps tellingly, his creditable 'B' in History and 'C' in French A-level were made public).
The point was noted more sternly — and concisely, in fewer than 140 characters, naturally — by this tweeter:
@Telegraph Why don't you tell us all why we should take educational advice from a privately schooled examination failure— Chris Stone (@cstone7200) September 7, 2016
Others were a little more pessimistic about his plight and efforts to preserve punctuation.
— Stephanie A. Wilken (@stephawilken)September 7, 2016