The Prince and Princess of Wales’ ‘heated rivalry’ was on full display in a joint statement shared ahead of the England vs Wales Six Nations match on Saturday.
Taking to their official social media channels, the future King and Queen wrote: “Wishing the best of luck to England and Wales Rugby as they go head to head at Twickenham today in the Men’s Six Nations Championship. It continued: “As patrons of both unions respectively…May the best team win [trophy emoji]. W&C.”
Prince William has served as the Royal Patron of the Welsh Rugby Union since 2016, succeeding his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.
Meanwhile, Kate was appointed as the official Royal Patron of the Rugby Football Union and the Rugby Football League in 2022. She took over the roles from Prince Harry, becoming the patron for both the men’s and women’s England teams.
© ShutterstockWhile the match will no doubt cause some division within the walls of their home, Forest Lodge, the game is taking place at Twickenham, just a 34-minute drive from the royal home in Windsor, so there’s a chance the family might attend the match.
Kate’s rugby prowess
As well as their official titles, rugby has also become a family matter since William’s royal cousin, Zara Tindall, married England rugby star, Mike Tindall.
Back in 2022, Kate took part in a training session at Twickenham Stadium following her new patronage, something which Mike discussed while appearing on his podcast, The Good, The Bad & The Rugby. During the episode, Mike couldn’t deny Kate’s natural talent and said the future Queen, who was then the Duchess of Cambridge, looked “effortless” on the pitch.
© GettyCo-host Alex Payne told Mike and James Haskell: “Well can I just say something which is 77 caps for your country [James] and 75 caps for your country [Mike], she looks a more natural rugby player than both of you put together.”
Mike replied: “I text Ellis [Genge] and said, ‘Mate, please tell me anything she messed up on’ so I could sort of… family WhatsApp group, get to her, and he said, ‘No she was actually pretty good, and she was really good at kicking,’ and I was like [sighs]. But she has this competitive nature.”
© Getty Images“She looked unbelievably natural,” agreed Alex. James said: “When she was announced, I thought amazing because we know she obviously likes her rugby. But the way she caught the ball, the way she jumped in the line-out, the little outside break, she was utterly fantastic, she was really, really, really good. And so I was like, amazing, and dual sport, what an amazing ambassador.”
Mike added of Kate: “Just imagine, anyone who’s ever tried it, getting thrown up in the line-out if you’ve never done it before is not easy because normally, you’ll kick the prop in either the nuts or the face as he’s lifting you and she just looked effortless.
He added, “The best thing is when it rolls to England and Wales, we get the battle of the Cambridges.”
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