World Cup fever has spread across the US, as Americans embrace our, like, seventh favorite sport. I honestly think Americans are getting a bigger kick out of hosting international visitors than legitimately enjoying the soccer, but we can do both! It definitely looks like plenty of American soccer fans are buying tickets to all of these games. There are shockingly good vibes around the World Cup, so much so that basically everyone (domestic and international) has quietly agreed to ignore Donald Trump. Who can pay attention to Cheeto when the Australians and Germans are having the time of their lives at IHOPs and Walmarts? Well, Prince William is here to remind everyone that he’s a super-sensitive international statesman and a lazy dumbass. The VENN diagram is just a circle – William is too lazy to travel to the US for the World Cup, and he also wants credit for being a wise statesman who refuses to sit for a photo-op with Donald Trump. According to a new report, the only way William (who is president of the Football Association) will turn up for the World Cup is if England makes the final.
Prince William looks set to avoid a potential diplomatic headache by staying away from this summer’s World Cup until at least the final. The i Paper understands the football-loving Prince of Wales is not expected to attend the tournament being played across the United States, Canada and Mexico unless England – or Scotland – make it to the final in New York on 19 July.
Last year, it had been widely reported that William was expected to coincide a trip to cheer on the Three Lions with America’s Independence Day celebrations on 4 July. However, it now appears William will stay at home – as the war between the US and Iran casts a diplomatic shadow over the tournament and revelations have emerged about apparent royal unease over Trump’s actions on the global stage.
Kensington Palace declined to comment but the decision to stay away is in keeping with the pattern of recent international tournaments, where William has seemingly given a wide berth to competitions played against a backdrop of geopolitical sensitivities.
While the Prince, who is also the long-standing president of the Football Association, attended three England games during the Euro 2024 competition in Germany and group-stage games at the 2006 and 2010 World Cups – he did not make the journey to either of the two previous tournaments in Qatar and Russia. In the case of the Qatar tournament held late in 2022, royal aides insisted the no-show was down to William’s busy winter schedule. But both tournaments were overshadowed by human rights concerns, in particular the Russia World Cup which came shortly after Moscow’s agents had deployed a nerve agent in an attempt to murder ex-spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury in 2018.
Dr Ed Owens, a royal historian and commentator, said: “William is much like his father on this. He recognises that royal soft power is arguably the Windsors’s most uncontested role in modern life and the most important role they can play on behalf of Britain.”
William also did not attend the Women’s World Cup final in Sydney in 2023 – England’s first World Cup final appearance since 1966. Royal sources at the time cited it would have involved flying across the world for a very short period of time.
As recently as six months ago, there was widespread anticipation that Palace planners were seeking to combine a visit to the World Cup by the Prince of Wales with an appearance at 4 July celebrations to commemorate 250 years since independence from Britain. But appetite for such an encounter appears to have shifted.
William deserves absolutely no credit for any political sensitivities. He and Kate did several photo-ops with Trump already, despite all of the warnings that the optics would blow up in their faces. Besides which, William’s refusal to visit the US isn’t even about Trump – it’s because he’s lazy, full-stop. It’s because he already did his one big international work trip this year… to Saudi Arabia (speaking of political sensitivities). I also suspect that William doesn’t want to go to the US because he doesn’t want to get booed at yet another American sports event. And I’m sure there’s something to do with Prince Harry as well.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Kensington Palace’s Instagram.
