Prince Williamtakes his family time seriously, so the royal's lack of personal and social media appearances are to be expected. However, he just broke his silence with a personal note out of the blue—but one I should have seen coming. That's becausePrincess Katebeat him to the punch. See, Wills and Kate are each patrons of separate—and sometimes opposing—women's rugby teams, and those teams apparently need well wishes during this season of intense competition. (And though Kate's note may have been first, I think William's is the message that really shows extra effort...more on that below.) Instragram/@princeandprincessofwales William posted images of three players with the following note, signed with his personal "W": ""Good luck to Wales Women as they kick off their Rugby World Cup campaign against Scotland today!" in both Welsh and English. And then, as a special touch, he wrote a phrase only in Welsh that can be translated as "Good Luck Wales, go for it!"Peoplereported earlier this year that William is learning conversational Welsh; that tracks, as he's been frequently posting Welsh language messages. Overall, heartfelt sports fandom is a big thing at Kensington palace, what with Williammugging at soccer matches. So it's no surprise that the day before Will's note,Kate posted a notecheering on her team, the Red Roses. (That's the team she began championing after Prince Harry stepped back from royal duties in 2020.) Kate's team represents England and triumphed over Team USA in a thrashing victory: final score 69 to 7). Well done Kate, and Red Roses. Not so happily, despite his multilingual shout-out, William's Welsh team was overcome, losing to Scotland by 30 points (Wales head coach Sean Lynn toldBBC One: "I've just said to the players that's just not good enough. We said we wanted to be physical and Scotland, credit to them, bullied us off the park.") The World Cup womens' games are not over, however, so there are a few more matches for the women from Wales to redeem themselves. Alastair Grant-WPA Pool/Getty Images As for the rivalry that might be happening at chez Windsor, now that William's team has lost and Kate's has won? I'm thinking the royals will keep to friendly ribbing, since the two are committed to cross-country sports patronage. For example, in March they were photographed seated together meeting with injured players at the Guinness Six Nations 2025 match between Wales and England. And just in case anyone's keeping track, in that men's rugby match, England handily defeated Wales 68 to 14. Don't give up, Wales—and Prince William, we look forward to more Welsh language posts to spur your teams to victory. Prince William Gets Candid in Emotional New Statement About Grief
