Prince William Interrupts Summer Break with Family with a Personal Note of Congratulations

Prince William is hailing the queens of soccer.

The Prince of Wales praised the England Women’s soccer team for qualifying for the World Cup final after they beat rivals and co-hosts Australia on Wednesday. England’s Lionesses won the game in Sydney 3-1 over Australia’s Matildas.

On Prince William and Kate Middleton’s joint social media pages, he wrote: “What a phenomenal performance from the @Lionesses – on to the final! Commiserations to @TheMatildas, you’ve played brilliantly and been fantastic co-hosts of this World Cup.” The message was signed “W,” indicating that the note came from the royal himself.

The final will see England take on Spain on Sunday. Prince William, who is a passionate soccer fan and President of the Football Association, is known to be in the stands rooting the team on — however, he won’t travel to Australia for the game this weekend.

King Charles also released a statement celebrating England’s advancement to the finals following the game.

Referring to Queen Camilla, the monarch said, “My wife and I join all our family in sending the mighty Lionesses our warmest congratulations on reaching the final of the World Cup, and in sharing our very best wishes for Sunday’s match. While your victory may have cost the magnificent Matildas their chance for the greatest prize in the game, both teams have been an inspiration on and off the pitch — and, for that, both nations are united in pride, admiration and respect.”

The message was signed by “Charles R,” which stands for “rex,” meaning king in Latin.

The Band of the Welsh Guards honored England’s team during the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace in London on Wednesday. In a video shared on social media, they played “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond, England’s soccer anthem — which the team sang after their victory.

The tournament kicked off for the Lionesses against Haiti on July 22. Since then, they have overcome opponents including Nigeria and Colombia to reach Wednesday’s semi-final.

It’s not known where Prince William was watching the game, but he is currently enjoying summer vacation with his family. Since Princess Kate, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis are all fellow sports fans, they likely watched the game together.

Prince William and Princess Kate, both 41, previously congratulated the Lionesses during the tournament with well wishes on social media — a clear sign they’ve been closely following the action.

During the last major tournament the Lionesses competed in, the Euros, Princess Charlotte joined her father in recording a fun good luck message for the team.

Prince William saw the team ahead of the tournament at their headquarters in England during a special visit in June. He used the occasion to play some foosball, wish them luck and surprise head coach Sarina Wiegman, who is Dutch, with her honorary Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire medal.

Because Wiegman is a Dutch citizen, the distribution of such honors is usually coordinated by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office of the U.K. However, Prince William wanted to personally present the medal while meeting the team, Kensington Palace said.

Almost exactly a year ago as the women prepared for the Euro finals, Prince William also made a visit and returned home with gifts for Prince George, now 10, Princess Charlotte, now 8, and Prince Louis, now 5: team jerseys with their names across the back and a number corresponding with their age at the time.

Over the weekend, Princess Kate attended the Houghton Music Festival in the countryside near the family’s Norfolk home, Anmer Hall.