Prince William is expecting a "tense" journey home with wife Kate this evening after the royal couple spent a slightly awkward afternoon watching rugby.
The Prince and Princess of Wales were in Cardiff watching England take on Wales in the Six Nations. Despite sitting side by side, the couple were supporting different teams due to their royal patronages.
William is patron of the Welsh Rugby Union, while Kate is patron of the Rugby Football Union – having taken over the role from the Duke of Sussex last year.
However it was Kate who got to celebrate after England took the win, beating their rivals 20-10.
Ahead of the much-anticipated match in Cardiff, the couple met injured players supported by the Welsh Rugby Charitable Trust, of which William is also patron. They officially opened the Sir Tasker Watkins Suite, a new space at the stadium for use by the injured players and their families ahead of matches.
Speaking at the reception, he said: “I’m looking forward to today. We need a little lift after the past week, don’t we?
“It’s going to be a very tense journey home. If we win today my wife won’t speak to me. It will be a tense evening.”
Kate laughed as she was asked about her support for England during the match.
She said: “The atmosphere is always second-to-none, so I’m looking forward to that.”
William wore a red tie in support of Wales, while Kate donned a red and white dogtooth Catherine Walker coat, described by her husband as “diplomatic”.
Many royal fans hoped the couple would bring their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis to the game as they're all big rugby fans.
While they decided to leave them at home, they did offer a cute update on their trio.
Kate said George is now learning to tackle rather than playing the non-contact game tag rugby . She said: “They are trying to teach him the rules. They move them around for their confidence. Because he is tall, he has the physique."
She also said Louis and Charlotte also love playing the sport.
Rhian Roberts, 37, is one of 33 people supported by the trust and spoke about what it was like to meet the royal guests.
She said: “It was an honour to see them today. You see them on TV and you pinch yourself that they are sat next to you.”
Gareth Moyle, 68, held Kate’s hand after asking William for an introduction.
He said: “I’ve met William four times. I wanted to meet his young lady and he sorted it out when I told him.”
The match, one of rugby’s fiercest rivalries, was in danger of being called off after a strike threat from Wales’ players due to a dispute over contracts and a restriction on moving overseas.
A settlement was only finalised on Wednesday evening, sparing the Welsh game losing an estimated £9 million generated by a blockbuster home international against England.
In the official programme for the match, Gerald Davies, president of the WRU, described the “solemn time” faced by those in the game.
“It has been a harrowing time, unrelenting in its comment and judgment,” he wrote.
“We are sorry that it has come to this.”
The match was the Welsh men’s team’s second and final home game of the Guinness Six Nations 2023.
Before the national anthems were played, there was a silence to mark the one-year anniversary of the war in Ukraine.
A message on screens in the stadiums read: “Six Nations Rugby , its unions, federations and the entire rugby family continue to stand with Ukraine and strongly condemn the aggressive invasion of their country.”
