This whole “Prince William was too lazy to go to the World Cup” story is reminding me of a very similar storyline from three years ago. In the summer of 2023, England’s Lionesses (the women’s national team) made it to the Women’s World Cup final, which was held in Australia. William refused to go, despite the fact that he was president of the Football Association at the time, and despite the fact that he will one day be “king of Australia.” When the Lionesses won their semifinal, William had plenty of time to fly to Australia for the final, and he was encouraged to by the papers and by royalists. He still refused, throwing out a million different nonsensical reasons why he wouldn’t. Weeks later, his office sort of admitted that William got that one wrong and he really should have gone. The exact same thing has happened with the men’s World Cup. Excuses on top of excuses for why William was too lazy to support his patronage. We’re about two weeks away from his office admitting that the lazy and bald demon screwed up yet again. But until then, the Daily Mail’s Richard Eden had a hilariously sycophantic column about why it’s great that William skipped the World Cup.

Anyone who has seen photographs of the Prince of Wales watching football will know how passionate he is about the beautiful game. Whether cheering on his beloved Aston Villa from the Directors’ Box at Villa Park or supporting England at Wembley, he is often pictured punching the air with unrestrained delight or embracing a friend after a goal is scored. So there has been some surprise that William has not gone to the World Cup during its first five weeks.

After all, he is President of the Football Association and his father is one of the ‘hosts’ of the tournament, as King Charles jokingly made clear to US President Donald Trump during his witty after-dinner speech at the White House in April. His Majesty was referring to the fact that he is Canada’s Head of State – the country is a joint host of the World Cup with Mexico and the US.
Not only could William have cheered on England but he would have been able to attend matches played by Scotland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, all of which are due to have him as their king.

Members of royal families from Continental Europe have headed to the international sporting jamboree, aware of how much football means to their subjects. To name but a few, Belgium’s King Philippe travelled to Los Angeles to watch his national team play Spain in the quarter-finals, while Prince Daniel and his son Prince Oskar were in New Jersey to support Sweden in their knockout round match against France.

The reason that our heir to the throne has not yet felt the need to travel to the US, Mexico or Canada is deeply revealing. He is sufficiently confident in the support that he and his wife, Catherine, enjoy that he doesn’t consider it necessary to court popularity.

The future king preferred to be at home with his children as they ended the summer term at school. ‘It’s been an important time for the family, as George has finished at Lambrook,’ a friend of the family tells me.

William wanted to celebrate with Prince George as he completed his time at Lambrook school in Berkshire before he prepares to attend his father’s alma mater, Eton College, in September. George turns 13 next Wednesday.

An even more revealing insight into William’s character came at Wimbledon on Sunday, when there was a little-noticed demonstration of his relationship with the Princess of Wales. As they entered the All England Club with George and Princess Charlotte, aged 11, William stayed strictly two steps behind his wife. When I caught sight of the couple, I couldn’t help but think back to Prince Philip and the way he would walk two steps behind Queen Elizabeth at public engagements. This was a deliberate way of making sure that the monarch was always in the foreground, taking the lead. It is hugely significant that William was happy to repeat this strategy even though he is the one who will be monarch, not his wife. William did so because he was the supporting act at Wimbledon: Catherine is patron of the All England Club, not him.

‘William doesn’t need to be the centre of attention,’ his friend says. ‘Not only that: he’s often happy NOT to be the centre of attention.’

It’s starkly different from the days when William’s father would resent his first wife, Diana, being centre stage. ‘He took it out on me – he was jealous,’ Diana said about Charles in recorded conversations with her voice coach, broadcast by Channel 4 in 2017. ‘I understood the jealousy, but I couldn’t explain that I didn’t ask for it.’ How refreshing that we now have an heir to the throne who celebrates his beautiful wife’s popularity and doesn’t resent her.

[From The Daily Mail]

How many justifications for William’s laziness can you count? 1. He doesn’t want to run into Donald Trump (not included in this column). 2. He doesn’t “court popularity.” 3. George is about to go to Eton! 4. George turns 13 next week! 5. William doesn’t need to be the center of attention! Now, let’s dissect some of this, shall we? Why would “attending soccer games as patron of one’s national team” be considered “courting popularity” instead of “doing one’s job?” Is this an admission that whenever William actually gets off his lazy ass, it’s only to court popularity? And William’s confidence in his popularity is hilarious too, given all of the tumbleweeds rolling past those empty royal barricades. This all reads like “if William went to the World Cup, he would have been forced to make it all about himself and he’s too humble and popular for that!” Which is an absolutely bonkers argument from start to finish.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.