The Duke of Cambridge grins as he holds aloft football shirts for his young children from the England Lionesses ahead of next month’s home Euros.
Prince William, the president of the Football Association, dropped in on the squad as they trained ahead of the final squad announcement.
After standing on the sidelines with head coach Sarina Wiegman, the 39-year-old Aston Villa fan showed what he could do on the pitch as he got stuck in with some of the side’s drills.
After being shown around the team’s facilities in Burton upon Trent he joined the players and staff for lunch.
Afterwards he was delighted as he was presented shirts printed with his children’s names and ages to wear during the tournament, which kicks off on July 6 when England face Austria at Old Trafford.
The Duke’s official twitter account later said: “Wishing the very best of luck to the @Lionesses ahead of this summer’s UEFA Women’s Euro 2022.
“A major tournament on home soil is an exciting prospect and it’s clear the players are looking forward to the opportunity to show what they can do.”
The current squad of 28 is set to be cut down to 23 this afternoon at 5pm before the side face Belgium at Molineux tomorrow, with further warm-up matches against Holland at Elland Road and Switzerland in Zurich to follow.
The Duke’s smiles today were miles from Monday when he cut a "dour and miserable-looking figure" at the Order of Garter ceremony amid a row over his uncle Prince Andrew , according to a body language expert.
The royals took a “family decision” to limit disgraced Andrew's appearance on Garter Day to a behind-the-scenes lunch and investiture ceremony.
As a result Andrew was not seen in public during the event, one of the most colourful in the royal calendar, after Prince Charles and William reportedly lobbied the Queen about his participation.
It was later reported that William warned he would pull out of today's ceremony if his disgraced uncle was allowed to take part.
William was reportedly "so alarmed" at the prospect of Andrew taking part in the event, that he made it clear that unless the Duke of York was dropped from taking part in public, he would not be taking part.
And according to body language expert Judi James, William appeared to almost be hiding and keeping out of the spotlight during the event - and only perked up when standing next to his wife Kate and aunt Sophie Wessex.
