Yesterday, the Lionesses won their FIFA Women’s World Cup semifinal and booked their spot into the final on Sunday. The Lionesses are England’s women’s national football team, and they’re pretty amazing. Last year, they won the Women’s Euros and you have to think that the Lionesses are a favorite coming into the World Cup final. After the Lionesses won yesterday, Prince William tweeted his congratulations from God knows where. William has been “on holiday” since the Wimbledon men’s final in July. The thing is, William isn’t merely a football enthusiast, he’s president of the Football Association. Literally, his job is to attend football matches and hype England’s national teams. Except the FA President can’t be bothered to actually attend these major soccer games. Kensington Palace furiously briefed the media, telling outlets that of course William would NEVER cut his holiday short to fly to Australia for the final.
The Prince of Wales will not travel to Australia for the Women’s World Cup final despite the Lionesses’ historic semi-final victory over the host nation.
Prince William, who is president of the Football Association, was watching on television as England beat Australia 3-1, securing a place in the final for the first time.
As the Lionesses celebrated on the pitch following the final whistle, the Prince tweeted: “What a phenomenal performance from the @Lionesses – on to the final! Commiserations to @TheMatildas, you’ve played brilliantly and been fantastic co-hosts of this World Cup. W.”
The Prince is understood to have made the decision not to fly due to the distance involved for such a short trip. His grandmother, Elizabeth II attended the 1966 World Cup final at Wembley and presented captain Bobby Moore with the trophy.
Sources suggested there were other ways to support the team and the Prince is expected to be watching from afar with his family.
The Prince also opted against travelling to Qatar for the men’s World Cup in December, although England did not make it past the quarter finals.
“The Prince is understood to have made the decision not to fly due to the distance involved for such a short trip.” Poor widdle baby might be jet-lagged! He might have to actually extend some effort and be uncomfortably tired for a few days, all to attend a historic final for English football and a huge moment for England’s women athletes. You mean being FA president might actually involve WORK? Don’t they know that William detests anything resembling WORK? “Sources suggested there were other ways to support the team and the Prince is expected to be watching from afar with his family.” Those “sources” are Kensington Palace staffers who probably laughed at the suggestion that William would do anything other than sit on his ass and watch TV.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- Prince William, The Duke of Cambridge visits The Spartans FC and Community Association in Edinburgh to see the positive impact of the Heads Up ‘Mentally Healthy Football’ declaration in Scotland. May 21 2021,Image: 611999763, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Katielee Arrowsmith / SWNS /rota / Avalon
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- The Duke of Cambridge, President of the Football Association, during a visit to Dulwich Hamlet FC at the Champion Hill Stadium in south London, where he met with players, club management, and football fans from a range of clubs to discuss the independent Fan Led Review of Football Governance. Picture date: Thursday September 23, 2021. See PA story ROYAL William .,Image: 633764337, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- Britain’s Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (C) poses with the England’s football jersey bearing the names of his three children and with the England’s women football team players during a visit at their training centre at St George’s Park, in Burton-upon-Trent on June 15, 2022.,Image: 699997441, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: PAUL ELLIS / Avalon
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- Britain’s Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (L) speaks with England’s defender and captain Leah Williamson as he attends the England’s women football team training session during a visit of their training centre at St George’s Park, in Burton-upon-Trent on June 15, 2022.,Image: 699997519, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: PAUL ELLIS / Avalon
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- Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge congratulates Beth Mead (7 England) tournament top goalscorer after England women 2-1 the UEFA Euro 2022 Final women’s football match between England v Germany at Wembley Stadium in London, England.,Image: 711049187, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Richard Callis/SPP/Panoramic / Panoramic / Avalon
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- Beth Mead (7 England) top goalscorer at EURO 2022 after England women 2-1 the UEFA Euro 2022 Final women’s football match between England v Germany at Wembley Stadium in London, England.,Image: 711049189, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Richard Callis/SPP/Panoramic / Panoramic / Avalon
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- Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge congratulates Alex Greenwood (5 England) after England women 2-1 the UEFA Euro 2022 Final women’s football match between England v Germany at Wembley Stadium in London, England.,Image: 711049198, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Richard Callis/SPP/Panoramic / Panoramic / Avalon
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- Britain’s Prince William, the Prince of Wales and President of the FA, centre, visits England’s national football centre at St. George’s Park to mark its 10th anniversary as the home of English football, in Burton upon Trent, England, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022.,Image: 728287524, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: POOL PHOTO, Model Release: no, Credit line: Rui Viera / Avalon
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- Britain’s Prince William, the Prince of Wales and President of the FA, centre right, stands with England soccer coach Gareth Southgate, centre left, as he visits England’s national football centre at St. George’s Park to mark its 10th anniversary as the home of English football, in Burton upon Trent, England, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022.,Image: 728290132, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: POOL PHOTO, Model Release: no, Credit line: Rui Viera / Avalon
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- Prince William, The Prince of Wales during a visit to St. George’s Park in Burton upon Trent to mark its 10th anniversary as the home of English football. Featuring: Prince William Where: London, England, United Kingdom When: 05 Oct 2022 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images **North America Rights Only**
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- Prince William, The Prince of Wales during a visit to St. George’s Park in Burton upon Trent to mark its 10th anniversary as the home of English football. Featuring: Prince William Where: London, England, United Kingdom When: 05 Oct 2022 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images **North America Rights Only**
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- The Prince of Wales speaks to members of England Women’s football team during a visit to St George’s Park, in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, ahead of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Featuring: Millie Bright and William, Prince of Wales Where: Burton on Trent, United Kingdom When: 20 Jun 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
I’m conflicted about this as I know I would also complain if he flew to Australia just for one day.
Australians do this all the time for work.. Not one day but a few days. I know of dozens of examples and I’ve never been corporate.
I would much rather he didn’t come as the Aus taxpayer would have to pay for his jolly.
Australia Republic Now.
As I wrote below in a different comment, we don’t want him. I’m just pointing out that people do short trips for work or pleasure all the time. Australia will be a Republic sooner rather than later.
He did not need to come just for one match. He should have been in the stadium last night watching the semifinal, just like lots of other English people who flew out to Australia to support the Lionesses. William just cannot be arsed to get out of his own way. He is a bone idle knobhead.
Let us not forget he is flying to NY for one day for something he supposedly is no longer President of. Earthshot in the US has never been necessary but that hasn’t stopped him from traveling for one day events in a country that isn’t a commonwealth country or associated with royalty. Him going to a commonwealth country for a monumental event that he is the president of and using that trip to focus on other things in Australia shouldn’t have been a difficult decision for him to make, but instead he’s decided to make yet another costly trip to the US for something he doesn’t have to be here for.
@Nerd
This is it exactly! Structure the visit so that you end up practically doing a mini “royal tour” by visiting existing organizations/programmes/places that hv been in the royal wheelhouse for all the years that Australia has been a C’Wealth country!!!
Theyre always preeing the Sussexes…….heres an excellent reason for copying the Sussexes. For example, look at how M used the Invictus Games/Netherlands event to do some visits and programmes with grassroots organizations while she was there.
Exactly this. Plus commercial flights are heading from London to Sydney every day no matter what he decides.
A thousand times, THIS. Propping up Willnot’s fragile ego with Earthshot nonsense? Have bags will travel.
Celebrating a huge accomplishment for England as a whole? Nope.
ETA: I love that Letizia is going.
William is going to NY for one reason. He is dying to address the UN because Harry did. He is showing up when the UN is in full session so he can claim a bigger audience. I hope he does not believe that popularity poll.
He was texting, while pruning rose bushes.
Not a good look. I hope William is photographed doing something public-service oriented and incredibly important–something time sensitive that he couldn’t do any other day. Otherwise, I think people will grow even more annoyed by his indifference to his birthright duties.
He’s going to home watching the match on TV. He’s still on vacation.
Grouse shooting season began on 12/08/23 and apparently lasts until September correction December? If that is what he is doing we will see neither hide nor hair of him – they don’t want the plebes remembering their violent elitist hobbies…
As someone who worked as an executive assistant for a while, it boggles my mind that his team wouldn’t have had this penciled on his calendar as a *potential* trip for MONTHS now, and built out a skeleton agenda of other meetings/visits (or heck, even just another vacation if that’s what he wants!!) in AUS around it to extend the trip and justify the length of the journey, just in case England made it this far.
That would make so much sense. So obvious and now their poor planning makes him look bad for not going.
Ummmm….I don’t know how to start the next sentence. IF you think that William’s staff is to blame for any of this, you haven’t remotely been paying attention.
Given how good the Lionesses have been the last few years it’s conceivable that KP didnt plan for this. What makes this look even worse is that Harry flew to Japan on short notice to attend the Rugby World Cup Final a few years ago when England made the Finals in his role as Patron and did a couple little engagements there yet the President of the FA cant fly to Australia to see England play in a World Cup final for the first time in his lifetime and the first time ever for the women’s team (H also attended the Rugby World Cup in Australia when it was held there).
My first instinct was that if the men were in the Final he’d probably be there but I’m starting to think that the palace might also be worried about the Republican sentiment in Australia right now and dont want a repeat of the Caribbean fiasco if he tacked on an engagement or two while he was there.
Right on, Ginny!!
Thinking about this more, I should give some benefit of the doubt to his team. I don’t know their behind-the-scenes; perhaps someone pitched this to him and he shut them down. But given that Letizia, an actual Queen, could make it work in her schedule…it just makes ya wonder 🤷♀️
Exactly this. They’ve had this date for ages. They’ve known how good the English team is for a while. He should have been prepared to go for a semi final and stay for the final. Plenty of soft diplomatic visits in between. Hell, they could have made it a family trip. Heaps of great family stuff to do around Melbourne and Sydney.
What an amazing PR trip gone begging.
Absolutely Ginny It’s the bare minimum to know the teams’s schedule and know at a bare minimum you should show up.
Queen Letiza of Spain is going to Australia to cheer on the Spanish women!
See, that’s how it is done. If he can’t be arsed to attend the World Cup final of a team he’s the head of, he needs to be replaced. It’s like if Roger Goodell skipped the Super Bowl. Appoint a famous retired English footballer to the post. Send Kate and Charlotte.
I don’t think taking an 18 hour flight for a football match makes much sense. Don’t need to drag him in this one.
Same. It’s not environmentally friendly at all and since he is banking on Earthshot to make him a big deal he has to pretend to care about the environmental impact of flying.
For once, he’s backing up his words with the correct actions.
However, what he could do is show up locally at a game watching event to publicly show support. I’m sure there is somewhere with a large audience that will have big screens, food, and booze that he could hang out in and watch the game.
William uses helicopters like we use cars. He does not care about the environment. And like @Ginny mentioned above, he could have planned some things around the final to make the travel worthwhile. He just didn’t want to go, which is fine I guess, but it has nothing to do with his supposed love of the environment.
I love this idea Bluenailsbetty. He could even invite a young girls football club to join him. Maybe style the event like a British neighbourhood street party.
Also Ginny above: you sound good at your job.
@JT Yes, I agree with all of that. It’s why I said he “pretends” to care about the environment.
Also, William needs to hire Ginny stat!
Sorry but it is not ‘a football match’ … it is the World Cup Final. It is such a major achievement for the Lionesses and for women’s football in the UK. He is not just a prince he is President of the FA.
He is going to Singapore for not much more than a day for Earthshot.
Australia, for now, has his father as head of state and neither Charles nor William have visited in the last year. This is such a good excuse to go. And he should take Charlotte.
As ever Letizia and Felipe put us to shame.
How about this: Australia and New Zealand are the hosts, he’s our future head of state, and he didn’t bother to show up. Pathetic. This is what people forget, he’s not just the future king of England, he’s supposed to be ours as well. He doesn’t give the slightest f-ck about our countries and what’s important to us. He barely cares about the UK. It’s a terrible look.
He cares nothing for the UK either… if he and his wife did, they would follow the example of his beloved mother and make a difference. He has all the opportunities to do good in the world, but he is just too lazy to care.
If those were my tax dollars he would be spending, I would be against it.
He absolutely should be dragged for this. His private holiday travel is 1000X more than travel for ‘work’. His job is to be the pretend head of FA and to support the UK teams. If ever he was *supposed* to suck it up and travel? It should be for this.
British Airways has flights heading from London to Sydney no matter if he attends or not. He’s head of the Football Association and can’t be arsed to watch the women in a historic final. That’s the issue.
Lol @baybay that’s his role it’s his job and and he can’t even do it
Lazy Peg is on vacation but when isn’t he on vacation. He may also not have gotten a great reception there. He has been booed at other sporting events at home. I remember the Italian fans were rooting for Meg forget what sporting event. He was booed at a few others. Don’t think his fragile ego can take that.
So, the coast is clear and Harry and Nacho should obviously show up and cheer the ladies on!
Omg that would be hilarious. 😂
Urgh … danged if he does and danged if he doesn’t…. If he were to go to Australia for the match, wouldn’t that contradict Earthshot’s mission? (OK, I know Earthshot is a glorified puff project, but still.) There really should be better thematic coordination of patronages. Billy can’t be bothered with BAFTA & most films either.
He’s going to NY for 2 days. He went to Jordan for 2 days. What’s the difference?
It does contradict Earthshot, but Earthshot contradicts Earthshot, considering the awards are going to be in Singapore this year and William is flying there for that and while I think it will be a multi-day trip, its not a major royal tour or anything.
That’s the thing. Flying is never going to be environmentally friendly, so one has to pick and choose. The whole point of the RF is to outwardly represent the people of the UK. The RF already has a PR problem – so, ditch the helicopter hopping, which does nothing for nobody, and do something that will bring some positive press and make the people feel good.
I’m starting to think one member of The Wails’ team recognized they needed cover for their laziness, hence Earthshot.
He invented the reason why he can’t do any Commonwealth work. It’s unbelievable.
Only if he flew private. If he’s on a commercial flight it’s going there regardless.
Yep. That’s the thing. The planes will be coming here and going back to England whether he’s on them or not. He simply can’t be bothered. Though I have no wish to see him come to Australia for any reason, this is about more than just William the man. This is about William the heir to that mystical “Crown” that is supposed to have a magical sort of relationship with its people that transcends mere practical, personal considerations like ‘it’s a bloody long way to fly for one football game’. He has a duty to put his personal comfort and interests behind those of his people when it comes to this sort of thing. Him making the effort to come all this way to support the team would be a huge thing and make it seem he really cares. The fact that he is president of the Football Association makes it even worse that he can’t be bothered. But, of course, this is the man who couldn’t be bothered watching any Bollywood movies ahead of attending that gala event with Bollywood actors. Even worse was the fact he admitted it. His PR skills are absolutely woeful.
Yay, Letizia! I hope the Spanish team wins.
Excellent top ‘footballing’ photo. He is SO awkward. We’re missing the ones of him enthusiastically hugging all the players though from the last prize ceremony he attended…
That said – yeah, he is lazy but we can’t excoriate him for environmental vandalism for flying to Boston for Earthshot and then criticise him for NOT flying to Australia for a 90 min footie match.
The problem with Earthshot wasn’t that he flew to Boston, but that he chose that venue for no apparent reason other than to hang his name onto John F Kennedy – so everybody had to fly to Boston…except the actual recipients of the awards.
And, in this case, it’s not about some random guy flying to Australia to see some random match. It’s the FK, who is also the FA president, whose only purpose in life is to appear to be supporting and representing the people of the UK, and to show national pride for the national team. If the RF is all about optics, this is a major opportunity.
Apparently the Queen of Spain and her younger daughter are going to Australia for the finals. Not surprised he’s not going but it begs the question why he made that short trip to NZ a few years ago. My guess is his intense need to compete with Harry and Meghan made his go that time. It’ was interesting to see some of the royals who went to Crown Prince of Jordan’s wedding also did engagements in Jordan while they were there. William and Kate did nothing except go to the wedding.
I was in Tokyo at the Mens Rugby World Cup Finals in 2019 when England was in the final. Sitting behind me was Prince Harry who was patron of UK Rugby before that patronage was stripped from him. That’s leadership.
Then what is Pegs good for? He should gather his friends & host a watch party or something for gawd sake.
This will become a bigger issue, I think, depending on whether the royals from Spain attend. It’s for the best though – I recall angry Willie refusing to congratulate or be a graceful host just a few years ago when Britain lost a match.
The Queen of Spain is going.
That snubbing of the winners and losers was totally bad form, but typical.
Football lost to Italy, the Italians got back at him, with a huge poster saying “Meghan is one of us” it was funny.
It’s so simple. If they weren’t taking the whole of august off which nobody else except teachers who actually work hard get to do. Organise a watch party at KP with girls and boys from local football clubs. If the lionesses win it’s an iconic memory for the kids, watching England win its first World Cup with the head of the FA in a palace. If they don’t, still a good day out for the kids and a big show of support for the lionesses. It doesn’t have to be huge! Just sincere!
That’s what I was thinking, too, Afken — invite local kids to a watch party.
But — while I fear he’d jinx the team — he really should be in Australia already. He should have been at the semifinal and there for the final. He’s just so lazy and useless.
Can’t really drag him for this because I’d definitely be more peeved if he travelled halfway across the globe for a 90 minute football match. It would be great for him to go and watch from a local fan zone that supports grassroots football, but we all know he ain’t doing that either.
Wow, what an own goal. Book the trip, announce you’re doing a carbon offset for the environmental impact and go to the game.
This! What are the Royals for if not something like this? And he’s the President of the Football Association with the match held in the UK. For all he tries to stalk Harry this was one situation William could have put to his advantage; showing how to mitigate the energy use of flying with carbon offsets as a example support his Earth thingy while performing his official duties, support the team and remind everyone he’s the FA president, be the representative of the United Kingdom and future king. And the opposing team will have their country’s royal representation present! This was a legitimate opportunity to pull all those things together and get his ‘Statesman’ credibility in a genuine manner and he’s like ‘nah…’
“What are the Royals for if not something like this?”
WORD.
Keep making the point that the royals serve no purpose, Wails. Refuse to show up for a fun part of your “job”. Please, keep making the point.
If this were someone who was thoughtful about air travel and worried about the damage to the environment, I wouldn’t think twice. Of course he could (and should) go out to a local pub to celebrate and buy rounds for everyone if the team scores. But he’s just not that guy.
Unfortunately for TOB, he is not known for his restraint when comes to hopping on a plane (or a helicopter) when it suits him. He’s planning on going to Singapore shortly, right? That’s going to involve substantial travel. And we’ve seen in the past that when he feels it benefits himself, William is more than happy to hop on a plane – Boston, New York, Dubai etc.
With all of the recent talk of the Commonwealth falling apart and how somebody has to go on tour, but not Charles, that having an excuse to make a short jaunt to Australia and be congratulated for your brilliant statesmanship would be a no brainer.
As others have highlighted, good staff work would have been plotting this out in the diary, and perhaps having a loose timetable of events ready.
If Queen Letizia is going, he could travel with her? Reduce emissions (slightly) plus a great photo op (though Leti might not agree!)
His commitment to patronages appears to be a mile wide, and an inch deep.
So on the one hand, yes, it would be a bad look for Mr Earthshot to fly to Australia for one football match. But when they made the semis, he could have made plans to attend that game with the potential of another game and stayed in Australia for the few days in between, and as a PR win, say the time between the games was “personal” and he was paying for it out of his personal funds (ie duchy money) – making it clear it was not a taxpayer vacation.
I think what just ticks me off is that I feel like if this was the men’s team, William would already be on his way.
That would have been a good idea as well. He could have just planned to be is Australia supporting the team regardless if they made it to the final. And regarding earthshot, nobody cares about it. I don’t even think that would have been in any stories had he gone. I mean, William barely cares about it, I doubt most people even know what it is.
He flies so much that one extra flight isn’t going to make a difference. As president of the UK football association he should be there. It’s not even like the team makes the final all the time either.
I agree if it was the men’s team he would be there and it would have been pencilled in months ago. In fact I bet the finals date for the next men’s World Cup in US and Canada and Mexico is already blocked off.
Australia is glad he’s not coming.
But I have friends who flew from Melbourne (au) to London for a rugby match. They stayed a weekend and flew back. People do long haul for short work trips all the time. People in Australia fly to the other side of the world for work for a few days constantly. He’s a baby.
Just because people do it all the time does not mean it’s right. People commit adultery all the time but you wouldn’t say that’s right.
The world is burning, climate related deaths are going up, parts of Africa and Arabia are going to be uninhabitable. ‘Just because it’s your job’ is not a legitimate excuse to make a long haul flight for a short trip anymore. Get another job.
@Flaw As much as I agree with your sentiment. No-one is saying he should go by private jet. There are plenty (probably too many) commercial flights to Australia. He flew commercial to Boston and only went for a couple of days so there’s nothing stopping him flying commercial again. As the president of the FA and the FK he has an obligation to be there. If he doesn’t attend then what on earth is his role in the FA? Spain’s royals will be there even though (as far as I know) Letiza has very little to do with the Spanish FA. She is there to show her support on behalf of her nation and quite right too.
ETA: If William is frightened of a few boos then what on earth would he had done in Afghanistan or Iraq? Boos only hurt the ego, enemy fire kills and maims. This is the guy who wants to take Invictus off Harry? Give me a break.
Interesting point, as William commits adultery all the time and doesn’t think it is wrong.
William flies all the time for his rampant holidays and his Earthsh!t flop which was created simply as a PR exercise. As pointed out above, he flew to Dubai for 2 days to collect a suitcase of cash. He flew to NYC to an award ceremony that didn’t include the award winners.
He’s flying to Singapore for 2 days for another award ceremony for the same flop Enviro Award. He uses a helicopter daily to commute from London where he secretly lives separate from his wife.
William has no legitimate excuse for the vast amount of pollution he produces for his own private pleasure.
William is no role model here. He has no problem flying anywhere he wants, when he wants, on the taxpayer dime for his own pleasure or his flop PR. But his job is to be the head of FA for the UK. His job IS to attend this match.
Flaw are you OK? William flies every freaking day, holidays constantly using private planes, has 4 houses (which have to be kept at the ready 24/7 which means staff, heating, electricity etc) travels in motorcades when he can be bothered driving, and has had affairs his whole married life. I’m trying to work out your point here? And interesting you pick on this comment when nearly everyone else is saying same? Hmmm. I wonder who this really is?
i feel like this is actually also a reflection of the disparities between men and women sports. it’s always an afterthought for women’s sports, while diplomats and figureheads attend the men’s finals of important sporting events. a fair amount of heads of state and national figureheads attended the men’s world cup in Qatar (which was already controversial). so william is lazy, but he is also like so many that only cares about men’s sports.
William should gone to Australia after the team made the SF. The losers in the SF play the third place pay off game after. Therefore, he would have been in Australia for more than one day.
This would have been such an easy win for him. There are plenty of reasons to go. The lionesses have never won a world so it’s potentially a historic occasion. Women’s sport is still treated as second rate so it would be an opportunity to highlight the need to support girls/women’s sporting opportunity. England is competing in a Commonwealth country so it could have been a diplomatic opportunity that would be more low cost to Australian citizens than a full blown tour. The trip could easily have been justified by him doing other engagements highlighting charities. As for Earthshot. He’s flying to Singapore for an awards ceremony. So going to Australia could have been justified. Fly commercial. Take Charlotte. Sit with the Spanish Queen and her daughter. People would have pushed aside any questions. This just highlights what Harry said in Spare about how William wasn’t really interested in investing himself in his own passions but was interested in denying Harry investing in his passions. He can’t even do something this easy.
Just to add, he could take Charlotte and George. Cultivate a love of womens sports in both of them.
I specifically mentioned taking Charlotte because previously they’ve taken George solo to several sporting events while taking Charlotte only once. Of course it’s important to cultivate support for women’s sports in both boys and girls. But in this instance I think just taking Charlotte would be fine.
Yeah I can see that. I’m more in favor of both kids bc at least then they have each other. Or let them take a friend. Although then the friend would get media scrutiny. So maybe take the cousins. But really taking kids to Australia for just 2 days with the time zones is a lot. But idk I still like the idea of George in general being also taken to the womens sporting events. Kate could’ve taken him to the womens Wimbledon finals. Or taken him and charlotte. I think they only went to the mens finals?
I doubt that he’s even mildly concerned about the environment or how it would look to fly to Australia for a few hours. I think there are three issues: first, as others have pointed out, this is the women’s team. Also, he’s on vacation and vacations are sacred in the royal family, especially the lazy ones. William is the patron saint of lazy royals. Finally, he’s probably concerned about republican Aussies protesting his presence for even a brief appearance. More and more, we’re going to see the royals acting like they’re prisoners on Salt Isle. And, in a way, they are because monarchy is no longer the revered institution it was during Liz’s reign.
IMO it’s going to look bad to if he doesn’t go because he is the president of the F. A. It’s going to look even worse globally when the cameras/commentators pan in on the Queen of Spain and none of our royals are there. Isn’t this what royals are for? They’re the “face” of a nation, they are paid a huge amount of taxpayers money to represent their nation on the world stage. If it was anyone other than William who was the FA president it would be considered outrageous for them not to be there; supporting the women’s team.
Once the women made the semis William should have been there. No ifs, buts or maybes. As others have posted if he can go to Dubai, Boston and NYC for a couple of days he can bliddy well fly to Australia and cheer the women on behalf of the nation. You can bet your bottom dollar if Harry was seen anywhere near that stadium before the match William would be there! And imho therein lies the problem. Far too many of William’s so-called advisers have been busy encouraging his “feud” with Harry instead of getting him to focus on his actual duties! Global statesman my arse!
Someone’s probably said it, but it’s probably also due to no guaranteed fawning reception. The Aussie news is certainly spewing out garbage, but there are many republican-minded Australians it seems.
This just serves to underscore the pointlessness of royal patronages. Willy isn’t interested enough to attend, and frankly, his presence or lack thereof, is not required or barely noted. What’s the point of the monarchy? There is none. Just a bunch of lazy elitists running a lucrative money-making scam on an increasingly impoverished nation.
Exactly
If Harry visited Australia before the Women’s World Cup, William would have dashed there in a second. He’s all what Harry has, he must have more of it. William is an envious and covetous The Other Brother.
Won’t happen but wouldn’t it be great if Harry and Archie were there,… in my dreams.
To those saying that it doesn’t make sense because of his Earthshot connection and how it would look bad for a one day 90 minute game. It is important to remember that not only is he the future king of England, but he is the president of the FA and will be the head of the Commonwealth Countries. We are only looking at the English team who plays on Sunday, but ignoring the Australian team that plays on Saturday. That is two days of him potentially supporting teams that he will someday be the head of (I laughed a little typing that). Taking a long flight to support one team on Saturday that he desperately needs to show support for on behalf of the RF, then doing some unrelated engagements outside of the game and then finishing off his trip by supporting his home team. This would not only be diplomatic but it would avoid any arguments about him flying such a long distance for a short sporting event.
Good point
Hmm, few things to take from the media bullsht, one, we don’t want wank to go, he is a jona of the highest order. Bad luck follows him everywhere!, 2nd point how I would LOVE for Harry to turn up 😂😂😂can you imagine the incandescent ones face and screams!! BUT, remembering Kate has just attended a festival on her little lonesome, we now HAVE WILLIAM IS ON HOLIDAY? so solo or another companion 🤔
Great idea!! Harry and Meghan both. What a blast.
If William took a long flight to attend a two hour game, the commentariat call him wasteful and hypocritical.
He could fly out on Queen Letizia’s commercial flight
OK, this is what he could have/should have done to garner some positive attention for himself and the team. Set up a giant screen in an arena to watch the game, invite some celebrity footballers/sports executives and bunch of kids who are eager fans. Turn it into a fund-raiser with football-related silent auction type stuff like autographed jerseys etc., give the kids special commemorative footballs and film the whole thing instead of him flying in for a few hours then fukcing off because he’s *On vACaTIoN*. Donate the proceeds to sports programs for underprivileged kids.
But no. He tweets something inane. He clearly doesn’t give two sh*ts.
He’s not worth a fraction of the carbon footprint to haul his ass there by private jet. He could have taken the family and his security on a commercial flight (while making a point to inconvenience other passengers as little as possible) and tacked a vacation onto the match while highlighting Australian businesses and tourism, making the royals look (a little) better, but that would have required effort and caring. He could have outsourced the effort, but there’s no outsourcing giving a f***
There are commercial flights going from London to Sydney every day until the final. The excuse that he would be attacked for carbon emissions is a false one because those flights are going there no matter what he does.
The issue is more that when they fly to Australia they usually get the taxpayer funded jet where they don’t need to associate with the peasants for that long flight.
The royalists are trying to defend him by claiming he’s being environmentally conscious but the commercial flight on BA could easily bring him there.
There is more reason for him to be at that final than going to New York or Singapore.
The British Prime Minister should order him out there, it’s that serious. Queen Letizia of Spain is going for God’s sake, the Spanish Queen!
The Spanish king was at Wimbledon. I think he should be going to Australia with the Queen. He has been to other finals. Does he go to all the men’s things and sends Letizia to women’s events?
@Tasmin – It could be seen as women supporting women. However, the main point is that a senior member of the Spanish royal family will be there to support the national team. Neither our president of the FA or any member of the BRF will be there. No matter which way you try to spin it the BRF doesn’t come out of this looking good. William is quite rightly getting dragged all across Twitter for this and the “environmental” excuse isn’t cutting it.
Here is another glaring example of how Harry is simply better at this and everything else when it comes to willy wanks. Harry flew to Japan and Singapore to support his charity because his charity and the people it helps , depend on him and his support and the publicity it brings . Harry cares about others and his work matters to him . Harry must have been severely jet lagged, but he knew people were depending on him , and he showed up for them . He does it to help those who need it because he has a huge heart. Wank however, wants all the glory and none of the work . He wants rest . As I’d be doesn’t spend all his life resting and doing the bare minimum. spoiled Peg can’t be bothered to be bothered. He just doesn’t care and he has zero shame in it. I pity the fools that think he will ever be any better
Willy has been dodging the boos and protests ever since the Queen died. Remember how his Homeward rollout project took place in surprise cities everyday? He didn’t want Republic or even the local yokels to swarm him with their signs. He would certainly be booed in Australia and he ain’t doing that.
What’s even more annoying to me is how he replied that he would watch with the family instead. As if that is an even exchange. He is quick to whip out that family man image when he thinks it is useful.
This is the chaos goblin in me coming out, but how delicious would it be if Harry, Meg and fam popped over to watch?? The incandescence would be atomic bomb level!
William would rather Goto NYC and try to cement his popularity in the USA. Not to mention he’s a single dad without Kate and ready to mingle. 😀
This is blowing up into a *MAJOR* kerfuffle in the UK – both he & Sunak are being majorly dragged for not attending. A couple of the tabloids are leading on it now & usually friendly commentators are pointing out the fact (& it is a FACT) that they’d both be going if the men ever made a final.
I’ve been supporting Spain all along (patriotism being the last refuge of a scoundrel!) although the background re the coach makes it hard to be 100% pro the team. Really pleased that Letizia is attending. Wondering if a U-turn is coming by either of these tits?