A former Football Association (FA) boss has revealed the important role Prince William and Kate played in a crucial moment for women’s football.
Speaking on women’s football podcast That’s So Offside earlier this month, Kelly Simmons OBE recalled the astonishing moment the Prince of Wales helped change the nature of the game forever.
Kelly, who began at the FA in 1991 before becoming Director Of The Women’s Professional Game, had been hoping to secure some investment into the Women’s Super League (WSL) from the ‘all-male’ board to move the game from semi-professional to professional.
At the time, she explained, the FA was a ‘very different organisation’ and they ‘couldn’t really get anybody to believe in’ the WSL.
Speaking to hosts Cece Kane and Abby Dolbear, she said: ‘In that room, of those people, nobody believed that anybody would want to watch it and it couldn’t possibly be commercially viable.
‘And so we went in for money and I’d already been told that they were going to say no, even though it was a good business case.’
But just as she was about to enter the boardroom, the company secretary told her the patron, Prince William, would be there, attending his first board meeting.
Kelly said: ‘I thought, oh my god, humiliation! Not only am I going to get a custard pie, I’m going to get it in front of the future King of England!’
Kelly said she hoped the ground would ‘swallow her up’ as she went in and presented her pitch.
But just before she was about to leave, Prince William had something to say.
He said: ‘Can I just say – I think this is absolutely fantastic. Kate and I are massively supportive of the women’s game and we think this is absolutely brilliant.’
Stunned, the chairman then decided to ask the room what they thought and, agreeing with the future King, everyone said it was ‘fantastic’.
Unable to believe her eyes, Kelly recalled: ‘And out we walked with the money!
‘Which enabled the WSL to really go to that next stage. A friend of mine on the board said they could hear my colleague and I squealing with laughter all the way down the corridor.
‘We would never have got it without Prince William. I’m convinced it wouldn’t have happened otherwise.
‘We were cackling all the way down the corridor! We were extremely smug. So thank you, Prince William. He probably didn’t realise what role he played.’
One person commented: ‘Love how prince William and Katherine support the WSL and got you what was needed.’
Another added: ‘What a fantastic story! William is a great man! Ahead of his time.’
‘Prince William is doing a lot behind scenes and it’s pity we don’t know that part of his work. He’s got my full support and respect,’ said a third.
Putting his summer break on hold, Prince William attended Sunday’s final, watching the Lionesses beat Spain on penalties for a second consecutive victory in the European Championships.
Joined by Princess Charlotte, 10, he was clearly invested in the game from the start and later handed out the medals to players on the podium.
Back in 2023, the Prince of Wales turned down flying to Australia to watch England play Spain in the Women’s World Cup final.
It was understood that the flight was deemed too long for such a short period of time in attendance. The Lionesses went on to lose that game but the no-show was not a popular move.
At the time, Ex-England goalkeeper Pauline Cope told Times Radio: ‘I will not have any bad words against the royal family. However, this should have been pencilled in his [William’s] diary from day dot, after we won the Euros and qualified for the World Cup.
‘Let’s be honest, if it was the men’s World Cup, they would all be here.’
Mandu Reid, the leader of the Women’s Equality party, told the Daily Mail it was ‘utterly ridiculous that England wasn’t and still isn’t prepared to celebrate the women’s World Cup final.’
And Piers Morgan tweeted: ‘With respect, YRH (Your Royal Highness), you should have got on a plane. Ridiculous that the Queen of Spain is attending the World Cup final to support her nation’s team, and you won’t be there despite being president of the FA.’
Prince William shared a video on social media instead, wishing the Lionesses luck and apologising for not attending alongside Princess Charlotte.
‘Lionesses, we want to send you a huge good luck for tomorrow, we’re sorry we can’t be there in person but we’re so proud of everything you’ve achieved and the millions you’ve inspired here and around the world.
‘So go out there tomorrow and really enjoy yourselves.’
Prince William and his wife Kate, Princess of Wales, have been away from royal duties and spending time with their children, George, Charlotte and Louis – who are all on school holidays.
This time around, progress of the Lionesses has been followed closely by Prince William since the start of the tournament.
He watched their 4-0 group game win over the Dutch in Switzerland earlier in the competition.
And he is familiar with the squad having spent time with them at their training camp at St George’s Park prior to the Euros.
During that visit, he said: ‘The men’s team could definitely learn off your camaraderie and your team environment.
‘You’re brilliant together, you create a very unique unit that is rare in lots of other sports.
‘So hold onto that, treasure that, build on it, because it’s one of your greatest assets.’
Prince William has long been a lover of football – and is an avid supporter of Aston Villa.
But William’s love for ‘The Villans’ started long ago, and for a rather strange reason.
The Prince of Wales explained to the BBC in 2015: ‘A long time ago at school, I got into football, big time. I was looking around for a club to support, and all my friends at school were either Manchester United fans or Chelsea fans.’
Determined not to follow a ‘run-of-the-mill’ team, William opted to support Aston Villa.
In a recent interview with The Sun, the prince revealed he had a ‘nice connection’ with the club as they lifted the European Cup in 1982 – ‘the year I was born’.
‘I wanted to have a team that was more mid-table, that could give me the more emotional rollercoaster moments,’ he explained.
‘To be honest, now, looking back, that was a bad idea – I could have had an easier time!’
William confirmed that family friends who were ‘big Villa fans’ took him to one of his first FA cup games at the age of 17.
It was the semi-final between the Bolton Wanderers versus Aston Villa at Wembley Stadium on April 2, 2000 – a match that certainly would have set the prince’s heart racing.
The agonisingly close game went into penalties when Aston Villa thankfully emerged triumphant, winning 4-1.
‘It was fantastic,’ the prince recalled. ‘I sat with all the fans with my red beanie on, and I was sat with all the Brummie fans and had a great time. It was the atmosphere, the camaraderie, and I really felt that there was something I could connect with.’
Although Villa did not go on to win the FA cup that year, William was not put off.
‘I kept an eye on Villa from then on but didn’t get too involved initially,’ he told The Sun. ‘But Villa being relegated to the Championship in 2016 got me even more interested, strangely.’
Since, Prince William ha s been a regular if anonymous contributor to online discussion sites.
One of the eight Villa supporters to meet the prince at Wetherspoon’s in Birmingham, Steve Jones revealed: ‘He said he keeps abreast of Villa gossip because he is on all the fans’ forums.
‘He goes under different names and he posts on there because that’s how he gets the feeling of what’s going on and what’s the opinion.’
William’s favourite villa player? Paul McGrath – a stalwart defender nicknamed ‘God’ who played for Villa between 1989 and 1996.
The Prince of Wales, who now lives between Kensington Palace in London and Adelaide Cottage in Windsor, admitted that getting to Villa Park ‘isn’t the easiest thing for me’.
But he tries his best to attend all the Champions League game – often with childhood friend Thomas Van Straubenzee as well as William and Edward Van Cutsem.
Meanwhile Prince George has fulfilled William’s dream that he would one day be able to share his passion for the club with one of his children.
‘He can support who he wants, but if he supports Villa that would be fantastic,’ the prince told Gary Lineker in 2015, when George was just two years old.
As Mike Tindall, the former England rugby international who is married to King Charles’s niece Zara, confirmed last year, that mission has been accomplished, and this year William has been joined by his eldest son at several games.
‘George loves his football,’ said Tindall. ‘He’s passionate about Aston Villa, too. Wherever he is, he’ll sit down and watch that game.’
Like father, like son.