Of all the things, people, continents and issues Prince William could claim as “his,” I would argue that English football really IS his. Football is one of his few passions and schedule priorities, and he’s served as president and now patron of England Football for many years. Of course, that doesn’t mean anything when it comes to the women’s national team. But it’s bizarre that it means nothing this year, as the men’s national team has fought their way into the World Cup final four. Tomorrow, England plays Argentina in the World Cup semifinal in Atlanta. England Football’s patron has not done anything but tweet about their run, and it doesn’t appear like he plans to fly in for the semifinal.
Now, when William appeared on the New Heights podcast with Jason and Travis Kelce, they even asked him if he planned to come over if England kept winning matches. William said that if England reaches the final, then he would probably come over. But here’s the thing – other European royal houses have been going all out to support their national teams. The King of Belgium went to LA to support his team in the quarterfinals. Norway’s Prince Haakon attended the Norway-England quarterfinal, then the Norwegian royal family organized a huge welcome-home for their team yesterday. The Netherlands’ King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima came to the US to lend their in-person support. Multiple other royals have celebrated their teams in person.
Well, people are starting to notice that William is too lazy to support England in person. The real change seemed to be when he didn’t bother showing up to England’s quarterfinal on Saturday, and I think it’s safe to say that he’s not going to fly to Atlanta for the semifinal tomorrow. Even if one could argue that William was busy over the weekend (Wimbledon, a polo match for charity on Friday), he doesn’t have anything on his schedule this week. That’s how it always is – the Wimbledon finals mark the beginning of the Wales family’s summer vacation. Much like the 2023 Women’s World Cup final, William’s priority is being lazy and enjoying his summer vacation.
Two more things – you know how I argued that William really can claim football as “his,” right? Isn’t it funny that Prince Harry has been talking about football and the World Cup in recent interviews? Isn’t it funny that Harry will appear on FIFA After Hours with James Corden? Harry is encroaching on William’s turf and William is too lazy to put up a fight about it.
PS… I’m not going to cover this separately but it’s wild that England’s great white hope Harry Kane recently confessed to golfing with Donald Trump.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
