Prince William forced to defend his football loyalties on visit to Wales ahead of World Cup
By Karishma Sarkari|
P?rince William has defended his public support of England's football team during a visit to Welsh Parliament, known as the Senedd, on Wednesday.
The newly minted Prince Of Wales visited the country to "deepen his understanding of the issues and opportunities of greatest importance" to the locals.
After arriving in Cardiff, the 40-year-old ?was greeted by Elin Jones and given a tour of the building and the debating chamber, where Jones quizzed the prince on his loyalties ahead of Wales taking part in their first World Cup finals tournament since 1958.
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Jones, who is the Presiding Officer (Llywydd) or speaker, showed Prince William her football bucket hat, which was on her seat inside the chamber.
"They play each other in a few weeks' time. I won't ask you!"? she joked with the royal.
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"No, it's ok, I'm telling everyone I'm supporting both, definitely. I can't lose," the Prince of Wales replied.
Explaining his divided loyalties further, William, who is the Football Association president, said he had to be careful about public perception around him jumping ship.
"I've supported England since I've been quite small," he said.
"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."
It wasn't enough for his host, who said she would "agree to disagree" on the matter.
Prince William said his ideal World Cup final would be an England versus Wales face-off.
"I'm making sure I'm out there supporting Wales through all the process because I know it's a big deal for Wales," he said.
"When I was growing up, Wales weren't getting through to the tournaments, so I had to make a choice."
Jones said the qualification was "a huge deal" for her country.?
"I'm much older than you and when I was growing up Wales weren't getting through to the tournaments," she told the prince.
Earlier in the week, Prince William had made a secret visit to the England team's camp before and handed the players their jerseys before they headed over to Qatar ?
During Wednesday's trip to the Senedd, William was also introduced to leaders of the main political parties, where he re-iterated he had no plans to hold a formal (and expensive) investiture as Prince of Wales.
The Duke of Cambridge inherited the additional titles of Duke of Cornwall and Prince of Wales after his father, who previously held those titles, ascended to the throne following Queen Elizabeth's death in September.
The Prince of Wales also revealed during the visit that he's learning Welsh and is comfortable giving speeches in the language as long they're not too long.?
The country and its language are not entirely new to Prince William and wife Catherine, who lived in Anglesey as newlyweds? in 2011, while the royal was an RAF search-and-rescue helicopter pilot.
Before heading back to his home in Windsor, the father-of-three met with members of the ?Welsh Youth Parliament to get to the heart of the issues of greatest importance to the younger generation.
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