Prince William has addressed criticism of his support for England's football team as Prince of Wales on his first visit to the Senedd in Cardiff.
The future King, who was named Prince of Wales by his father the King in September, tackled the subject head on during a lighthearted chat with the Llywydd Elin Jones during a tour of the Siambr.
It came after Welsh actor Michael Sheen questioned whether William’s role as Prince of Wales was appropriate given his support of the England football team.
Mr Sheen's comments followed William's visit to the team's training centre on Monday, where he presented them with their shirts for the World Cup in Qatar.
"He can, of course, support whoever he likes and as Pres of FA his role makes [the] visit understandable – but surely he sees holding the title Prince of Wales at same time is entirely inappropriate? Not a shred of embarrassment? Or sensitivity to the problem here?" Mr Sheen tweeted.
Today, the presiding officer of the Welsh Parliament showed the prince her Wales football bucket hat, which she had on her seat inside the chamber and said: "They play each other in a few weeks time. I won't ask you!"
But he replied: "No, it's ok, I'm telling everyone I'm supporting both, definitely. I can't lose.
"I've supported England since I've been quite small. But I support Welsh rugby and that's my way of doing it. I happily support Wales over England in the rugby so I've got to be able to play carefully with my affiliations.
"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."
“We can agree to disagree," said Ms Jones.
"An England v Wales World Cup final would be the best, that would be pretty good," added William.
He went on: "I'm making sure I'm out there supporting Wales through all the process because I know it's a big deal for Wales. When I was growing up, Wales weren't getting through to the tournaments, so I had to make a choice."
The Llywydd told William: "I'm much older than you and when I was growing up Wales weren't getting through to the tournaments," adding that there had been some "horrible results."
"1958, I believe was the last one?" asked William. "So it's a big deal."
"It's a huge deal," she replied.
Ms Jones, a football fan, said she would not be going because the World Cup is taking place in Qatar, adding: "It's tragic that it is in Qatar, but the First Minister is going out and that’s going to be absolutely fine for him to go out, in my view. But it's confused.. we have this great huge happiness about it but then it’s a shame it's in Qatar and a lot more people could enjoy it.
“The Euros in 2016, they were glorious. I was there at the game when Wales beat Belgium 3-1 and that was absolutely fabulous.
“But we will have the rugby world cup in France next year, that will be a big deal,” said William.
At the Senedd today, William met politicians from the four parties represented – Welsh Labour, the Welsh Conservatives, Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Liberal Democrats.
Kensington Palace said the visit was “in order to deepen his understanding of the issues and opportunities of greatest importance to the Welsh people”.
William is expected to reiterate to Welsh politicians that there are no plans for any formal investiture ceremony.
His father, the King, was officially invested with the title Prince of Wales by the Queen during an event staged at Caernarfon Castle in July 1969.
Charles announced that William and wife Kate would become Prince and Princess of Wales on September 9, the day after the death of the Queen.
A few days later, William spoke on the telephone to Mark Drakeford, First Minister of Wales, in a conversation in which the prince spoke of his “deep affection for Wales”.
The prince, who served as an RAF search and rescue helicopter pilot when living on Anglesey with wife Kate, "expressed his and the Princess of Wales's honour in being asked by the King to serve the Welsh people" during that call.
William and Kate travelled to Anglesey and Swansea on September 27 – when royal mourning ended – to meet people and communities in Wales.
Both are understood to be keen to pave their own path in the roles, building trust and respect of the people of Wales over time.
