Prince of Wales hits back after he's slammed for handing out shirts to England football squad

16 November 2022, 15:55 | Updated: 16 November 2022, 16:00

By Fran Way

@journofran

Prince William has been blasted for handing out shirts to the World Cup team before they flew to Qatar, with outspoken Welsh actor Michael Sheen saying it’s ‘entirely inappropriate’.

Sheen questioned if the Prince of Wales had a ‘shred of embarrassment’.

England’s official Twitter account shared a video of Prince William’s surprise visit to the training camp where he presented players with their official shirts before telling them: “I’m really here to point out that the rest of the country is behind you, we’re all rooting for you. Enjoy it.”

But Sheen retweeted it, saying: “He can, of course, support whoever he likes and as Pres of FA his role makes visit understandable – but surely he sees holding the title Prince of Wales at the same time is entirely inappropriate? Not a shred of embarrassment? Or sensitivity to the problem here?”

But William has now hit back at Sheen’s remarks, instating he’ll be cheering on for both teams during the tournament which begins on Sunday.

In a visit to the Welsh parliament, William told Elin Jones, Llywydd of the Senedd, that he could not have ‘suddenly’ dropped his support for England, who he has supported in football since he was a child.

He described Wales getting into the World Cup as a big deal and said when he was growing up ‘Wales didn’t get through to the tournaments’ so he had to ‘make a choice’.

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He said: “I’ve supported England since I've been quite small, but I support Welsh rugby and that's my kind of way of doing it. I happily support Wales over England in the rugby.

"I've got to be able to play carefully with my affiliations because I worry otherwise if I suddenly drop England to support Wales then that doesn't look right for the sport either. So I can't do that.

"Ms Jones, the presiding officer of the Welsh parliament, replied: "We can agree to disagree."