Prince William will fly to support male athletes, but not the Lionesses

Last Thursday, Prince William made two public appearances, neither of which brought many headlines. During the day, William did a very careful photo-op at Sustainable Ventures, where he posed for photos looking pensive, like he was playacting “I’m a good listener and I understand these conversations.” He went solo, and the absence of a certain gopher-gnawed wiglet meant that he flew under the radar and barely got any media engagement. Then, hours later, he flew solo again and caught an Aston Villa football game. He’s a longtime Aston Villa supporter.

What is remarkable, however, is that William has now made a point of making special trips to watch men’s sporting events. In September (the Invictus Games’ opening weekend) he flew to France for the Rugby World Cup, then he traveled to Birmingham for this Aston Villa game. While I know there’s a difference between “taking a private plane to France” versus “flying commercial to Australia,” the point is that William still made a terrible decision to not fly to Australia in August to support the Lionesses in the World Cup final. One of his many excuses was that it would be environmentally irresponsible to fly all that way… when clearly, he’s fine with flying the helicopter to Birmingham or taking a private plane to France, just as long as he’s supporting male athletes.

It’s also still bonkers to me that the Lionesses lost in the World Cup final almost two months ago exactly and the Football Association president still hasn’t met with them or done an event with them or visited their clubhouse to tell them how amazing it was to see them battle their way to the final. Misogyny, hypocrisy, laziness, poor planning, too focused on America.

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25 Responses to “Prince William will fly to support male athletes, but not the Lionesses”

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  1. Tisme says:

    Look at him, showing us who he is…waving his misogynistic priorities in our face.

  2. Amy Bee says:

    I think it’s terrible that the Palace hasn’t had a reception for the women’s football team. It was
    very strange for him to go an Aston Villa game midweek and on a school night. Was he hoping to get attention for going to an Aston Villa game like Harry got when he went to a LAFC game a few weeks ago? I don’t believe William actually likes football and his choice to root for Aston Villa is puzzling and performative.

    • Chloe says:

      … you don’t believe dat william is into football? The most popular sport in the world? He’s been a Villa fan for a long time and it’s well recorded. I remember watching an interview with Ant& Deck and william and harry where they asked the boys what team they supported. Harry said arsenal. William said villa.

      I know the lazy’s would pander to anyone just to seem relatable but the guy actually likes football and Villa is definitely his club.

    • Elizabeth says:

      Also, what does Prince William have against trains? He could easily have taken the train to and from Birmingham, which would have been more environmentally friendly than a helicopter. Or driving, maybe?

      • Becks1 says:

        He made Kate take a train to Birmingham last year while he and Charlotte flew in a helicopter, LOL.

  3. Too focused on Harry. What he so obviously misses is that Invictus has both male and female veteran competitors. He proves his worthlessness time and again.

  4. Eurydice says:

    It’s not bonkers to me – it’s entirely expected. So much for the evolution of the monarchy.

  5. Becks1 says:

    Completely unsubstantiated, but I saw on twitter that the Lionesses were refusing to meet with him. it would make sense, the complete lack of an event together is pretty notable.

    It was funny when Harry was asked at the Miami game if he was an Aston fan and he was like “NO.” harry is arsenal, William AV.

    Anyway its clear that William just did not want to go to the Women’s World Cup final. If he had wanted to have been there, he would have gone.

    • Laura D says:

      @Becks I heard something similar on a radio programme (I can’t remember which station.) It was reported that ‘some’ of the players felt let down and had no wish to meet him. I would hazard a guess that William has made efforts to meet the squad but, it would be embarrassing for him (and the FA) if half of them stayed away. The thing is no matter what he tries to do to amend the situation it’s too late. The world saw the Queen of Spain was there and he wasn’t.

  6. Mslove says:

    He needs to be fired from the Football Association. They need a president who will show up & put in the work.

  7. Gardendryer says:

    I wonder if they tried to organize a get together and the Lionesses turned the palace down because their “president” couldn’t be bothered so why should they? Palace can’t really spin that without making him look worse than he already does, so it is radio silent on both sides

    • Lady Digby says:

      He is a regular no show for BAFTA events as well. Fail commented he had around 38 Patronages compared to KC’s 600. I would like some evaluation of how many events he does annually for each of them? 80% of success is showing up on time and being dedicated, consistent and enthusiastic about the cause you are PAID to promote.

  8. s808 says:

    I don’t think he got enough flack for refusing to show up for the Lionesses. He showed complete disregard for them, has to this day done nothing besides a hastily thrown together video of support and to then turn around and show up at an AV game? Just blatant lack of respect, wow.

    • Chloe says:

      And the environment excuse that he used becomes even more unbelievable when you hear he took a separate private jet from his wife to France who attended a rugby match just a day earlier… 2 separate jets.

    • Emme says:

      Oh I agree 💯 The Fail, Scum etc soft-peddled on his lazy arse!

  9. Mary Pester says:

    This idiot has NO idea of public perception, because if he did he would realise that HALF of the country is female, and he needs them more than they need him.
    Is this the way the monarchy will end? Misogyny, racism, violence and jealousy? I bloomin hope so. The rot is already setting in with public disgust and low opinions of that family. The sheer stupidity and hypocrisy of the “left behind” Royals is amazing! They don’t know how to connect with people, but spend all their time obsessing about how Harry and Megan do it. What a bloody waste of skin they all are.
    One of the lionesses was asked if she has met William and she said “no, but I don’t really care”. THAT comment alone sums up the way a lot of people feel

  10. Lau says:

    Aston Villa also has a women team and yet I’m pretty sure we won’t be seeing him attend any of their matches any time soon. I wonder if they are going to make such a mess as during the IG to go and see both England and Wales play in the quarter finals of the rugby world cup this weekend (they probably won’t because they are too lazy).

  11. Chelsea says:

    Not much shocks me with the royals anymore but i have to say I was really shocked that there hasn’t been any event held for the Lionesses since they got back. The Swedish royals did an event for their team for getting bronze almost immediately after they came home and of course the Spanish royals actually went to the final. Why did the British royals not doing anything for their team? No they didn’t win gold but it was their best showing ever and the best showing England has had in any world cup in William’s life time. It’s insane that the royals haven’t done the right thing by honoring them on behalf of the nation and even more so that William head of the FA hasn’t done anything for them but instead has gone to multiple men’s sporting events since then with no apparent shame.

  12. Lauren says:

    Sweden beat Australia to win bronze and like 2 days later the team was at the Royal Palace in Stockholm meeting Crown Princess Victoria and her kids.

  13. JJ says:

    He does not care. He will do what he wants. He has made that abundantly clear but that quality is precisely what doesn’t make him a statesman. He is a rich, entitled guy who will do what he wants when he wants to do it. He lets the racist comments about his sister-in-law, niece, and nephew stay up on his social media pages unchecked, gets his man Jason Knauff and media cronies to try to destroy his sister-in-law, and doesn’t support the Lionesses. It looks racist and misogynist and HE DOES NOT CARE. And this guy is the future king and a wannabe statesman??? Honestly, end the monarchy.

    • AmB says:

      Right, JJ, that’s the central issue: they don’t care.

      If you sincerely care about people and issues, doing the right thing comes naturally.

      If all you care about is what people think about you, then your focus is on micromanaging the spin and perception and whatever you do will seem insincere, because it is.

  14. HuffnPuff says:

    If the Lionesses did meet with William, how awkward would that be? Congratulations and then what? He can’t admit he was wrong not to go. However, his refusal to go would be the elephant in the room. As for the Lionesses, I can see them thinking they don’t want to see him either. It would look like they accepted his flimsy excuse.

  15. Macky says:

    William was mad the men lost earlier. He stomped out. He got public flack. So when it came time for the women he stayed home.
    He couldn’t travel to Australia and then be filmed stomping around. He wouldn’t been able to leave early if they started losing. Ha. So he stayed home.

    In olden days his temper tantrums would be public. We could all laugh. But he is so lazy that can’t afford to only show him stomping.