Personally I think he should but I think cost and carbon footprint have been given as the reasons for him not to go.
What are your views or do you not care either way?
merlotgran
BlueBelle
Of course he should go, if it was the blokes he would you can bet your bottom dollar
They don’t think twice about the carbon footprint for other thingsYes that puzzles me. They use helicopters like some people hop on a bus. If Spain’s Queen Leticia and her daughter can fly out to support their team why not our heir to the throne who also happens to be the president of the FA.
The Spanish Royals are flying on a private Military flight
With respect,so what? That's up to Spain. What has it to do with Prince William attending or not?
I admit in advance that my view on this is quite narrow: if, in similar circumstances, he would attend the final if it were the English men playing in a world cup final, he should do the same for the women's game.
There's no way of knowing for sure, but my gut instinct is that he would be there for the men, so ...
I don't think he should go. I think the reason why he hasn't gone is that he needs to keep Australia onside. After all England put them out of the World cup and will play in the finals in their country. William is being very diplomatic.
I think to suggest that PW is biased towards men's football is complete rubbish. I wouldn't think that PW has a sexist bone in his body. He's certainly never shown any indications of being anything but even handed in all respects. I guess he's not gone because of accusations of going on a Jolly, carbon footprint, and perhaps the realisation that he could be booed by the less than enthusiastic Australians.
Jaberwok
I think to suggest that PW is biased towards men's football is complete rubbish. I wouldn't think that PW has a sexist bone in his body. He's certainly never shown any indications of being anything but even handed in all respects. I guess he's not gone because of accusations of going on a Jolly, carbon footprint, and perhaps the realisation that he could be booed by the less than enthusiastic Australians.
Yes, I agree.
Although I still think he could hae gone.
The planes will go whether he is on them or not.
I think it is a shame that William is not attending. Even if there is a good reason he can't then it would have been good for another senior royal to be in attendance.
grannypiper
I don't think he should go. I think the reason why he hasn't gone is that he needs to keep Australia onside. After all England put them out of the World cup and will play in the finals in their country. William is being very diplomatic.
grannypiper William is being very diplomatic.
I agree.
Wouldn't just be him, he'd take security, handlers, staff and cause all sort of security/protocol problems whilst there - well done him not going!
Desdemona
I think it is a shame that William is not attending. Even if there is a good reason he can't then it would have been good for another senior royal to be in attendance.
I think as President of the FA he should be there, not as a Royal.
However, security would be a problem.
there was a a clip of him and charlotte on the news with charlotte saying 'good luck lionesses!
Mollygo
Prince William is being criticised for not flying 22 hours to Australia to see the football . It’s not a cheap undertaking to have the heir to the throne visit overseas . It requires planning and a lot of expenditure. If he did go he would be criticised for going .
Ppl need to understand this
The Australian govt would have to pay for IPP . At the moment there is a pro republican govt in power there . There has been a lot of anti monarchy sentiments ( thank you Harry & Meghan ) and the country is facing a massive housing crisis with entire families on the streets , including homeless essential workers , the worst housing crisis in Australian history . I don’t think it would make any govt popular under these circumstances. Prince William an advocate for homelessness awareness knows this as well . The money spent for his 2 hr stay in Oz can def be spent on more pressing issues . It takes a strong man to make the right choice esp if that choice is unpopular.
If the men had made the final last year, we're told there was a planned gap in his diary so he could have attended in Qatar.
This is Australia, a member of the Commonwealth and I seem to remember a member of some recent trade agreement.
The rich FA would have paid for PW and his security to take a commercial flight, which would have been going there anyway. I'm sorry there's a housing crisis in Australia, but I don't see the relevance.
I'm sorry there's a housing crisis in Australia, but I don't see the relevance
It is irrelevant. There is one in the UK too but they are the relevant governments' problem.
Can anyone imagine the men’s team being in a World Cup final and the president of the FA not attending?
Me neither.
lemsip
Well at least it’s better than Rishi Sunak’s so called Good Luck message where he’s hunched over his desk, reading from a script and can’t even be bothered to look at the camera.
Can anyone imagine the men’s team being in a World Cup final?
No one of any importance is going . That’s wrong. It makes Women’s Football of little importance. This is a major event and no one of prominence is going. It’s sending a wrong message to women in sports !
Mollygo
Can anyone imagine the men’s team being in a World Cup final?
Yes, I remember watching them win.
merlotgran
Can anyone imagine the men’s team being in a World Cup final and the president of the FA not attending?
Me neither.
Or me. If PW can’t fit a World Cup final into his busy schedule/can’t attend in case he’s booed, perhaps he should stand down as FA President and let someone else do the job.
Maggiemaybe
merlotgran
Can anyone imagine the men’s team being in a World Cup final and the president of the FA not attending?
Me neither.Or me. If PW can’t fit a World Cup final into his busy schedule/can’t attend in case he’s booed, perhaps he should stand down as FA President and let someone else do the job.
Yes, I agree.
Perhaps not a member of the Royal Family if it's going to cause such security problems.
I already suggested that PW should not be President for exactly that reason. Somebody more closely linked to football would possibly be better.
Stanley Rous who was a football referee, was FIFA president in 1966, but he didn’t present the cup. It was presented by Queen Elizabeth II.
She travelled all the way to Wembley.
African teams boycotted the competition back then because of unfair treatment.
(Thanks for the date Callistemon21, I wasn’t interested in football in my youth).
He should be there, obviously a lack of forward planning. He had weeks and it is disappointing that the ladies are not valued as much as the men. He has definitely gone down in my estimation
Why is Prince William president of the FA anyway ? Shouldn’t it be someone connected to football ?
Why on earth use his child in that video … sickly
The point people are making about the carbon footprint is nonsense as we are sending two people anyway (James Cleverly and Lucy Frazer ) they could stay at home and send William instead …….One footprint instead of two
Very poor decision and listening to the radio phone ins a very unpopular decision amongst the population
I think it would be better if Katherine and Camila went.
Why on earth use his child in that video…sickly
I didn’t find it sickly, I thought it was a good way of showing the female Royals support the game. And a nice dad-and-daughter moment.
If it had been the men’s final, no doubt George and maybe even Louis would have featured.
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