The royal family is enjoying their month-long vacation in Balmoral, but not everyone is thrilled by Prince William‘s summer hiatus while the World Cup is going on. With the England’s women’s soccer team in the finals — its first in nearly six decades — against Spain, many people expected to see the Prince of Wales in the stands cheering them on as the president of the Football Association.
His decision to stay home and not make the trip to Australia isn’t landing well with many U.K. citizens. LBC News anchor Nick Ferrari had some harsh words for William, “Spain can send its queen and her daughter, who I assume is a princess, and we send the culture secretary Lucy Frazer,” he pointed out. “If it was the blokes, you would have everybody there. You’d possibly have the king. You’d certainly have Prince William, who’s the chairman of the FA. They’d all get out there, but not, it would appear, for the girls.”
Those are some pretty harsh words, and while the Prince of Wales is leaning into his climate change activism by insisting the short trip to Australia would have a serious environmental impact, the royals certainly haven’t let a brief visit stop them in the past. It’s more likely that they didn’t want to interrupt their vacation even though this is a global sporting event. It’s one of Prince William’s most high-profile patronages and the sexism claims certainly resonate strongly — the women deserve to be celebrated as much as the men.
The palace has insisted that he will be cheering the women’s team from Scotland, but the optics aren’t great. It’s more impactful to have him in the stands, rooting on the athletes, and high-fiving Prince George and Princess Charlotte after they score a goal. Instead, it will be a missed media opportunity and a reminder to anti-monarchists about the diminishing role the royals play in modern society.
Before you go, click here to see the 100 best photos of the royal family from the past 20 years.
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