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Prince William Comes Under Fire For Taking Charlotte to the Women's Euro Final: ‘He Has Never...’

On Sunday, July 27, Princess Charlotte made a rare appearance alongside Prince William to cheer on the Lionesses at the Women’s Euro final in Switzerland. The father–daughter duo couldn’t contain their happiness as they watched England triumph over Spain at Basel Stadium. While the outing was largely well-received, some fans pointed out a glaring pattern in the Prince’s approach to such public appearances. Royal watchers slammed his apparent pattern of taking Prince George to men’s football matches and Charlotte to women’s matches.

As reported by Tyla, it wasn’t Charlotte’s presence that sparked backlash, but rather the absence of George and Prince Louis from women’s matches. While young Louis has yet to make his debut at a football match alongside his dad, in July 2024, William attended the Men’s Euro final with George, who, like his father, is a devoted football fan. Fans on social media hence questioned why the Prince of Wales seems to pair his children with football matches based on their gender, instead of mixing things up. Critics argued that taking Charlotte to women’s football and George to men’s subtly reinforces gender divides in sport.

After photos of William and Charlotte's joint appearance made the rounds on X (formerly Twitter), fans pointed out the glaring pattern. A critic slammed, "Again, Prince William is sending the message that women’s football is not real football; it’s football for girls. He has never taken Charlotte to a men’s game, just George." In a similar vein, another echoed, "Where's Prince George, who is a huge England football fan? Is the women's game not equal to the men's then?" A netizen added, "Not sure why he couldn't take both (or even all his kids) to the final?" As the comments poured in, a fan opined, "I’m wondering if it is that Prince George doesn’t care for women’s football or Prince William thinks it’s not for boys to watch and support... That would be very backward thinking." 

While critics claimed that William reinforced gender stereotypes with his recent appearance, some were quick to defend the Prince. A royal watcher argued, "A simple explanation is Prince William realizes it’s good for a Dad to spend a day out watching sport with his daughter, as he has spent time with his son previously!" Another echoed, "Don't over-analyze. Can't the father take his daughter to the game?" A netizen also argued, "I think it's because women's football is going to be one of Charlotte's patronages when she is old enough, so she's being trained up." 

After the Lionesses' triumphant victory, Kensington Palace released a statement on X on behalf of William and Charlotte congratulating their victory. As per Hello! magazine, they wrote, "What a game! @lionesses, you are the champions of Europe, and we couldn't be prouder of the whole team. Enjoy this moment, @England. William & Charlotte." While Williams' three children have previously signed off joint messages for birthdays and Father's Day, this marks the first time his daughter has personally signed off a message as 'Charlotte.'