Members of the royal family can get bad press for any number of reasons, but Prince William is facing criticism for a fairly benign reason—his choice of sports team. The prince is backing England’s soccer team, leaving his Welsh subjects out in the cold.
Prince William Chooses Sides In Upcoming World Cup
William took on his father’s title of Prince of Wales after the death of Queen Elizabeth. It looks like he’s still getting used to juggling his Welsh and British subjects. He recently sat down with Welsh politician Elin Jones, who grilled him on which team he’ll be supporting in the upcoming World Cup.
Jones showed William a Wales football hat, then said, “They play each other in a few weeks time. I won’t ask you!” The prince was game to reveal which team he’d be supporting though. “No, it’s ok, I’m telling everyone I’m supporting both, definitely,” he laughed. “I can’t lose.”
‘I Happily Support Wales Over England In The Rugby’
“I’ve supported England since I’ve been quite small,” William continued. “But I support Welsh rugby and that’s my way of doing it. I happily support Wales over England in the rugby so I’ve got to be able to play carefully with my affiliations. I worry otherwise if I suddenly drop England to support Wales then that doesn’t look right for the sport either. So I can’t do that.”
Jones said, “We can agree to disagree,” to which William replied, “An England v Wales World Cup final would be the best, that would be pretty good.” The prince made sure to stay supportive of the Welsh team, though.
“I’m making sure I’m out there supporting Wales through all the process because I know it’s a big deal for Wales,” he explained. “When I was growing up, Wales weren’t getting through to the tournaments, so I had to make a choice.”
Their Take On Upcoming Soccer And Rugby World Cups
He and Jones then spoke about the upcoming World Cup, which is set to take place in Qatar. “It’s tragic that it is in Qatar, but the First Minister is going out and that’s going to be absolutely fine for him to go out, in my view,” Jones said. “But it’s confused … we have this great huge happiness about it, but then it’s a shame it’s in Qatar and a lot more people could enjoy it.”
“But we will have the Rugby World Cup in France next year, that will be a big deal,” William pointed out. William’s support of England over Wales in the upcoming World Cup means he’s in for some good-natured ribbing from his Welsh subjects.