King Charles has been busy this week, although most of this week’s headlines have been about his meeting with the Sussexes at Highgrove. Earlier in the week, Charles and Camilla visited Isle of Man and shenanigans ensued. By Thursday, Charles and Camilla were in Dorset, visiting local businesses like the Hall and Woodhouse Badger Brewery. Unlike his heir’s repeated attempts to sound like a bloke who “grew up in a bar,” Charles approaches these kinds of staged photo-ops like an actor trying to nail a skit. He finds the peasants quite amusing, you see, and he’s always delighted whenever he gets to pull a pint or sip something other than a dry sherry. While he was sipping a pint, Charles mentioned England’s World Cup semifinal loss. Fun fact: while everyone blasted Prince William for being too lazy to attend any WC matches, the truth is that Charles would have been perfectly capable of going to a match. He did not.
King Charles and Queen Camilla are commiserating with their fellow England fans after the country’s heartbreaking World Cup semifinal loss. On Thursday, July 16, the royal couple visited the Hall and Woodhouse Badger Brewery bar in Dorset, England, to help the family-owned establishment kick off its 250th anniversary festivities.
The King, 77, tried his hand at pulling pints of the brewery’s Fursty Ferret amber ale and Tanglefoot golden ale, joking as he took a sip that it was “a good day to drown a few sorrows.”
An Instagram post to the royal account said the same in its caption, adding a soccer ball emoji in reference to the World Cup heartbreak.
When Anthony Gordon scored just after halftime, England seemed poised to hold onto the 1-0 lead and move on to their first World Cup final since 1966. However, in a heartbreaker for the Three Lions and their fans, Argentina scored twice in the final moments and extra time, clinching a return to the final to face Spain on July 19.
Following the loss, the royal account shared a post congratulating the team on their impressive run, with a photo of team captain Harry Kane comforting star midfielder Jude Bellingham.
“Commiserations to Harry and the team,” the caption read. “While you Three Lions may be licking your wounds today, you remain the pride of a nation – and will rise again.”
Despite the King’s support of England’s soccer squad during the World Cup, Prince William recently revealed that his personal passion for soccer was not handed down from father to son.
“Absolutely not. My father hates football,” he shared during his surprise appearance on Jason and Travis Kelce’s New Heights podcast.
Yeah, I thought it was genuinely shady when William said that Charles “hates football.” While everyone knows that Charles prefers to read a good book rather than act like a football hooligan (ahem), I doubt Charles completely “hates” any sport. As king, he supports all of the British teams and athletes as well. Magically, Charles was not called upon to make any kind of statement about the Falklands in the wake of Argentina’s semifinal victory over England. Keir Starmer took care of it though, calling for a FIFA investigation into the banner calling “Las Malvinas” the property of Argentina. Starmer’s spox also said: “The PM wishes both teams well for the final, especially Spain.” LMAO.
A good time to drown a few sorrows… ⚽️
The King and Queen have visited the Hall & Woodhouse Badger Brewery, marking the start of its 250th anniversary celebrations.
🍺 Founded in 1777, the brewery is today stewarded by the seventh and eighth generations of the family.
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) July 16, 2026
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- Britain’s King Charles enjoys a pint next to Queen Camilla in the Hall and Woodhouse Badger Brewery bar as the brewery celebrates its 250th anniversary in Blandford Forum, Dorset, Britain, July 16, 2026.,Image: 1116846037, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: – 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, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no , Credit line: Avalon.red/Avalon
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- Britain’s King Charles holds a pint next to Queen Camilla in the Hall and Woodhouse Badger Brewery bar as the brewery celebrates its 250th anniversary in Blandford Forum, Dorset, Britain, July 16, 2026.,Image: 1116846044, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: – 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, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no , Credit line: Avalon.red/Avalon
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- Britain’s King Charles drinks a pint next to Queen Camilla in the Hall and Woodhouse Badger Brewery bar as the brewery celebrates its 250th anniversary in Blandford Forum, Dorset, Britain, July 16, 2026.,Image: 1116857478, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no , Credit line: Isabel Infantes/Avalon
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- Britain’s King Charles enjoys a pint next to Queen Camilla in the Hall and Woodhouse Badger Brewery bar as the brewery celebrates its 250th anniversary in Blandford Forum, Dorset, Britain, July 16, 2026.,Image: 1116857479, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no , Credit line: Isabel Infantes/Avalon
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- Britain’s King Charles pours a pint next to Queen Camilla in the Hall and Woodhouse Badger Brewery bar as the brewery celebrates its 250th anniversary in Blandford Forum, Dorset, Britain, July 16, 2026.,Image: 1116857484, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no , Credit line: Isabel Infantes/Avalon
26 Responses to “King Charles sipped a pint & ‘drowned a few sorrows’ over World Cup football”
Yet again, William shows that he will only engage with things he cares about and has no concept of doing otherwise. Does Charles follow a team? Probably not, but he understands his job. Sigh. I am equally excited and horrified by how things will play out once we get our next king.
“As king, he supports all of the British teams and athletes as well”
Except for every British Invictus team that has participated in the IG since its inception…
🎯 I came to the comments to say this.
I always think they look ridiculous when they take their sipping the pint photos.
Geriatric clowns
Not just Charles and Camilla. Kate and William look ridiculous when they do it too.
At least Charles is still working in the heatwave whereas his son has already slopped off on another two month holiday!
Even though I don’t think he spends his time regularly in pubs, I do think he looks kind of happy/amused trying the pint. He looked a lot stiffer when he was younger. I think he’s loosened up a bit haha.
I can kind of picture him touching his cuff links before drinking the pint. Not sure if that actually happened, but it’s a mannerism I always notice.
It was William who said “he grew up in pubs”, not Charles. Charles wouldn’t be that stupid.
Charles was never interested in any sports beside Polo. He didn’t spend his time reading football forums or went to the games of his favourite team instead of working. Say what you will about Charles, he always worked and seems to enjoy the bread and butter work like visiting local pubs, manufacturers, and unveiling plaques. Enjoy your pint, Charles. You deserve it.
Pubs in the UK have families and children in there. It’s not quite the same thing as a bar. There is a community feeling to being in a pub, and the associations are different in the UK. So I don’t think of it as stupid to hang out in one, if you’re in Britain. I don’t associate them with alcoholism and bad behavior (although maybe there is some version of a pub out there for that sort of thing). Anyone who has been a Wetherspoons will see families in there on the regular.
That said, no, I don’t think of Charles as hanging out in a pub, but that’s because of the time and period he grew up in as a future monarch. I think he was expected to be a little bit set apart from everyone else, and that’s sort of mirrored in how he behaves. And I don’t know if I want to see a monarch who acts like everyone else (if one is forced/required/ whatever the right term is here to have one in a country).
Yeah idk if it’s unfair but I don’t care about Charles attending the game. He’s elderly and is still on treatment, although doing well. William however is supposed to love football and regularly goes to games. But not this one apparently.
Except for when he’s playing polo, I can’t recall actually seeing Charles at sporting events. Maybe he was at the London Olympics since that seems like something he’d definitely have to attend, but I can’t actually remember him there.
I also can’t remember a time he was ever at Wimbledon, even though it is close by.
I don’t think there’s ever been an expectation for Charles, specifically, to be at any sporting event.
Maybe the expectation is there for the others, but I don’t associate Charles with sports of any kind. Though I can picture him reading a book at a sporting event, I suppose.
If I recall correctly, Charles took Harry (and only Harry) to a soccer match in France when the chunnel first opened.
It seemed to be a ‘kill two birds with one stone’ kind of thing optics-wise.
Yeah, a few of the other elderly monarchs didn’t attend – Harald of Norway didn’t go, the Swedish monarchs didn’t go. The sitting monarchs who attended (Williem-Alexander and Maxima, Felipe) are all quite a bit younger.
But that’s why you have an heir who you can designate to attend these types of events.
I also think it feels more notable for William to miss since he’s made “being a football fan” a huge element of his public personality.
William became Patron of the England football team when the Queen died. So it was William who was expected to go the World Cup not Charles.
I’m not really sure he’s sick at all. If he had anything, it’s gone or under control. The cancer card is used by royals.
Now, this is totally him getting back at Willy for saying Charles “hates” football. William could have said “my father doesn’t really watch football” but he used the word “hate”, in a country that loves football.
Willy may also be not too friendly to him the last week because of Charles seeing his other son and grandchildren…
He couldn’t go because then it would prove that he would go anywhere to support the men soccer players but not the women. He was also probably very afraid of the crowd reactions if they announced he was there.
Yes, no way Willy is flying all the way to Brazil again for the Women’s WC if they are in the finals…
I will never begrudge anyone spending time in a pub. Charles has many flaws but he seems to genuinely enjoy a pint.
I think this is something William and Kate should have went to. It was an easy PR win and they are not smart enough to see it.
They should have gone to what, a pub? Doesn’t Willy do that on a regular?
Something I hadn’t realized till I moved here – football is considered “working class” so the upper class brits tend to look down on it. Charles probably was encouraged to not being comfortable with it or enthused by it growing up
So could Williams love of football be considered part of his regular down to earth middle class Bill?
100%. When I watched the match earlier this week the one boy said “oh I thought that was beneath you” and it’s been a total slog trying to get friends to watch it, because they are uncomfortable associating with it. It’s like the upper class gingerly dips its toes in during the world cup but is worried it’s beneath them/looks bad. It’s so strange.
Camilla looks like she’s searching for the gin.
For all this talk about William loving football he rarely goes to premier league games and never travels to watch the national team. In fact, I don’t even think he goes to watch England play in the Nations League or world cup qualifiers. I’ve always believed that William is a plastic football fan and that KP gave him this hobby so that he seem like a regular person. Him being an Aston Villa fan has always seemed calculated to me.
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