It is absurd to suggest that Prince William’s non-attendance at the Women’s World Cup final in Australia on Sunday is some great public scandal. He faces growing pressure to cut short his family holiday and jet over to Australia pronto. Some critics have even gone as far as to claim that, if William doesn’t do so, he will somehow be guilty of letting the side – and by implication the nation – down.
The argument goes something like this. As president of the Football Association – the suits who run the English game – the heir to the throne is responsible for promoting the sport nationally and internationally at all levels.
There is nothing awful about William watching the match on television alongside millions of other fans
Well, so what? Nowhere in the small print does it say that this means he must be present at every big event. William was at the final when the Lionesses won the Euros against Germany last year, and made headlines by hugging captain Leah Williamson and her teammates during the medal presentation. That final took place at Wembley, not thousands of miles away in Australia. William, a big supporter of the women’s game, also wished the team luck on a visit to the St George’s Park national football centre in June when he presented an award to the coach Sarina Wiegman.
It is not William’s fault that, when his summer holiday was being planned, no one knew how far the team would progress in the competition. It is churlish to attack him for spending time with his young family. Doesn’t he deserve a summer break?
Even so, the critics continue to take cheap pot shots. Gerry Sutcliffe, a former Labour MP and sports minister, is adamant that the royal family must be represented at the final. He appears exercised by the news that Queen Letizia of Spain, the wife of King Felipe, will travel to Australia with her 16-year-old daughter, Princess Sofia, for it.
Well, bully for them. If some Spanish royals want to go to the game, that’s their choice. It is not a final between two royal families.
Just as batty is Sutcliffe’s suggestion that, if William is unable to attend, the King should go. Charles has shown no real interest in football of any kind; the last thing our players need is for him to be sitting in the stands looking glum.
Another critic, the writer AN Wilson, claimed that William’s absence pointed to a wider failing in British officialdom’s attitude to the women’s team. He argued that the Spanish players would gaze into the stands and see their Queen cheering them on, leaving our brilliant Lionesses disadvantaged and hurt by a lack of equivalent royal backing. This is palpable nonsense. It’s a World Cup final. The players really don’t care who is in the stands. Their only focus – rightly – is on winning the game.
There have also been dark hints that the royal absence is evidence of some form of sexism at play. One Labour MP, Kate Osborne, claimed that, if this was the men’s final, Prince William definitely would be there. She even dragged Rishi Sunak into the row, saying he too would have gone to Australia to watch the men’s team.
This is desperate stuff. Sunak can make the reasonable case that he has other things on his mind: he is, after all, running the country at a time of economic difficulties.
Lucy Fraser, the culture secretary, will be representing the government. Is a prominent woman minister attending the women’s World Cup final really a snub? Would the critics prefer the men to go?
This is not about sexism. William did not go to Qatar for any of the England men’s team games at the World Cup last year either. There is nothing awful about William watching the match against Spain on television alongside millions of other fans.
The Lionesses are an extraordinary team led by a brilliant coach. The nation will be willing them on to victory on Sunday. Their achievements put to shame the serial failings of the men’s national team, and Wiegman has every claim to succeed Gareth Southgate at some future point.
It is in the lack of equal pay and rewards that the real sexism lies: Wiegman should certainly be paid the same as Southgate for managing the national team. Taking potshots at Prince William for staying at home and watching the game on TV is a sideshow.
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