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British Royals

Prince William can’t hide his nerves as England’s crunch Euros match against Switzerland ends in penalties

The Prince of Wales couldn’t hide his nerves as he watched the crunch Euros match that sent England into the semi-finals of the tournament.

Prince William was at the quarter final between England and Switzerland in Dusseldrof and watched with his head in his hands as Gareth Southgate’s men found themselves facing penalties to reach the last four.

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England have been famously caught up by the shoot outs in past major tournaments and Gareth Southgate himself missed the crucial shot in the 1996 Euros, at Wembley, which sent the team out at the semi-final stage.

He’s clearly learned from that and England, say it quietly, had been practising penalties as all five were slotted home without breaking a sweat while Jordan Pickford’s save of Switzerland’s first shot meant it was Southgate’s men who headed into the final four where they will play the Netherlands.

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However, Prince William, President of the Football Association, wasn’t quite as calm as the players on the pitch and showed all the nerves of every England fan as he watched the penalties play out. He had earlier jumped to his feet and punched the air when Bukayo Saka slotted in the equaliser that put England in with a chance of staying in the tournament having fallen behind by a goal earlier in the match.

Once the win was secured, he headed into the stadium to congratulate the team in person and took to social media to praise them and to reveal his own worries, saying ”nail biting to the very end. Well done, England! Semi-finals, here we come! We believe. W.”

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It was the second personal sporting message from the Wales family within hours. The Princess of Wales had already taken to socials to pay tribute to Andy Murray after it was revealed he had played his last match at Wimbledon. Catherine described his career at the All England Club as ”incredible” and added ”on behalf of us all, thank you. C.”

William had arrived at the Dusseldorf arena in a far more relaxed mood, smiling and joking as he took his seat for the crunch match which had seen England start as underdogs against an on form Swiss side.

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It’s not the first game that Prince William has attended this tournament. In the group stages, he sat alongside King Frederik of Denmark as England took on the Danes. And he could find himself sitting alongside another royal if he attends the semi-final match as King Willem-Alexander is a big fan of the Netherlands team.

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Prince William also visited the England side as they made their final preparations ahead of the tournament when he passed on advice from Prince Louis who wanted the players to eat more to boost their chances of winning.

About author

Lydia Starbuck is Jubilee and Associate Editor at Royal Central and the main producer and presenter of the Royal Central Podcast and Royal Central Extra. Lydia is also a pen name of June Woolerton who is a journalist and writer with over twenty years experience in TV, radio, print and online. Her latest book, A History of British Royal Jubilees, is out now. Her new book, The Mysterious Death of Katherine Parr, will be published in March 2024. June is an award winning reporter, producer and editor. She's appeared on outlets including BBC 5 Live, BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Local Radio and has also helped set up a commercial radio station. June is also an accomplished writer with a wide range of material published online and in print. She is the author of two novels, published as e-books. She is also a marriage registrar and ceremony celebrant.