Why Prince William Is Really Avoided Flying To America To Watch the World Cup

Football, or soccer as the Americans insist on calling it, is England’s game. It’s the national pastime, and every British household has been glued to the team’s run through this year’s World Cup after two decades of nearly-but-not-quite. There was the World Cup semi-final loss to Croatia in 2018, the Euro final defeat on penalties to Italy in 2021, a World Cup quarter-final exit to France in 2022, then another Euro final loss to Spain in 2024.

Four near-misses in six years is enough to wear down even the most patient fanbase, so this time round has carried a different feeling entirely, a sense that this squad, and this manager, might actually be the ones to end it.

On Saturday, England beat Norway 2-1 after extra time in Miami, in the biggest game the country has cared about in years, Jude Bellingham scoring both goals in an England run that has been shaky at best.

Norway, Haaland-inspired, had arrived having stunned five-time champions Brazil, the furthest they’d ever gone at a World Cup.

Norway’s royals were there with Crown Prince Haakon, making his first appearance at the tournament, seated next to FIFA president Gianni Infantino. And his children had covered Norway’s last three matches,

But the man who wasn’t there was the president of England’s Football Association: Prince William.

Yes, he told us he wouldn’t be when he turned up on Travis and Jason Kelce’s New Heights podcast on July 3, of all places, and was asked outright what a successful World Cup would look like for England.

“I think winning it,” he said, no hedging. When Jason pushed on whether that meant he’d actually cross the Atlantic for it, Travis spelled it out: if England makes the final, William comes. William agreed. “Definitely, if we’re in the finals.”

So Saturday’s quarterfinal was never going to get him on a plane. That win changes the maths, though. England now faces the winner of Argentina vs Switzerland in the semi-final on Wednesday in Atlanta, and if they get through that, it’s the final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on July 19, the exact scenario William set as his own condition for making the trip.

Two wins now stand between William and a plane ticket he’s already said, on the record, he’ll book.

But it hasn’t stopped the sniping, because William being conspicuously not in Miami this weekend, while other European royal houses have thrown themselves into this World Cup with real gusto, was always going to invite criticism.

It’s a criticism William has heard before. The “lazy” and “workshy” tag has followed him for years, usually built on the same comparison: his engagement count against his father’s. Covered by Celebrity Intelligence here. As king, Charles has consistently clocked up more official engagements than William manages in a comparable stretch, and critics have used that gap before to paint a future king who shows up less than the man he’s replacing.

This weekend’s absence from Miami, however justified by his own stated condition, is exactly the kind of moment that narrative feeds on: a major England game, cameras in the stands hunting for royals, and no William in the shot.

Royal author Richard Fitzwilliams told Celebrity Intelligence that William’s no-show at the Lionesses final “was a clear error of judgement, as has been universally agreed.” But he argues the pattern since then is less about laziness than priorities: William and Catherine “give priority, wherever possible, to bringing up a family,” and have deliberately narrowed their public role down to a handful of causes — Earthshot, mental health and Homewards for William, Early Years for Catherine — rather than the sprawling patronage lists past royals carried.

“It would be a much-appreciated gesture if William attended the semi-final, which is a huge event,” Fitzwilliams added, though he’s doubtful it happens.

Everyone else showed up at this year’s World Cup. King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands didn’t just watch from a box. They chased the Oranje squad and the Curaçao squad (a constituent country of the Dutch kingdom) across three different host cities, at one point going from cheering the Netherlands past Sweden in Houston to dancing with the Curaçao players in their Kansas City dressing room after the team’s historic first World Cup point, all in the same day.

King Felipe VI of Spain made the trip to Guadalajara for Spain’s final group match against Uruguay, watching from the stands alongside Royal Spanish Football Federation president Rafael Louzán before heading down to the locker room to congratulate the players and coaching staff on topping the group.

Jordan’s King Abdullah and Prince Hussein were pitchside too, with Abdullah’s granddaughter Princess Iman along for the ride, and Hussein heading down to the locker room to console the Jordanian squad after a defeat.

But laziness isn’t the real reason for William’s absence at all, and Celebrity Intelligence can reveal what is. Subscribe to the paid tier to find out.

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