Royal expert: Detail everyone missed in photo of Kate and William

Anyone who has seen photographs of the Prince of Wales watching football will know how passionate he is about the beautiful game.

Anyone who has seen photographs of the Prince of Wales watching football will know how passionate he is about the beautiful game. Whether cheering on his beloved Aston Villa from the Directors’ Box at Villa Park or supporting England at Wembley, he is often pictured punching the air with unrestrained delight or embracing a friend after a goal is scored. So there has been some surprise that William has not gone to the World Cup during its first five weeks.

After all, he is President of the Football Association and his father is one of the ‘hosts’ of the tournament, as King Charles jokingly made clear to US President Donald Trump during his witty after-dinner speech at the White House in April. His Majesty was referring to the fact that he is Head of State of Canada, which is a joint host of the World Cup with Mexico and the USA. Not only could William have cheered on England but he would have been able to attend matches played by Scotland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, all of which are due to have him as their King.

Members of royal families from Continental Europe have headed to the international sporting jamboree, aware of how much football means to their subjects. To name but a few, Belgium’s King Philippe travelled to Los Angeles to watch his national team play Spain in the quarter-finals, while Prince Daniel and his son Prince Oskar were in New Jersey to support Sweden in their knockout round match against France. As the couple entered the All England club with Prince George and Princess Charlotte, William stayed strictly two steps behind his wife.

William did so because he was the supporting act at Wimbledon: Catherine is patron of the All England club, not him. What William's Wimbledon Gesture Revealed While England had to make do with showbiz royalty in the form of Sir David and Lady Beckham at their quarter-final match against Norway, our opponents were represented by Prince William’s direct equivalent, Crown Prince Haakon, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami last Saturday.

After returning to Oslo, Haakon endeared himself further to 100,000 fans who flocked to Royal Palace Square by rhythmically beating a ceremonial drum to welcome the team home as the players, led by Yorkshire-born Erling Haaland, performed their inspiring ‘Viking row’. The reason that our heir to the throne has not yet felt the need to travel to the USA, Mexico or Canada is deeply revealing. He is sufficiently confident in the support that he and his wife, Catherine, enjoy that he doesn’t consider it necessary to court popularity.

As he made clear to pop superstar Taylor Swift’s new husband, Travis Kelce, and his brother Jason on their podcast New Heights earlier this month, he would attend the World Cup only if England made it to the last game. ‘Definitely, if we’re in the finals,’ William said. The future king preferred to be at home with his children as they ended the summer term at school.

‘It’s been an important time for the family, as George has finished at Lambrook,’ a friend of the family tells me. William wanted to celebrate with Prince George as he completed his time at Lambrook school in Berkshire before he prepares to attend his father’s alma mater, Eton College, in September. George turns 13 next Wednesday.

An even more revealing insight into William’s character came at Wimbledon on Sunday when there was a little-noticed demonstration of his relationship with the Princess of Wales. As they entered the All England club with George and Princess Charlotte, aged 11, William stayed strictly two steps behind his wife. Prince William grins at the UEFA Europa League final, where Aston Villa beat SC Freiburg 3-0.

Anyone who has seen photographs of the Prince of Wales watching football will know how passionate he is about the beautiful game. Wills cheered on his beloved Aston Villa from the Directors’ Box at Villa Park during the Europa League semi-final against Nottingham Forest, punching the air with unrestrained delight. William Is Happy to Let Kate Shine When I caught sight of the couple, I couldn’t help but think back to Prince Philip and the way he would walk two steps behind Queen Elizabeth at public engagements.

This was a deliberate way of making sure that the monarch was always in the foreground, taking the lead. It is hugely significant that William was happy to repeat this strategy even though he is the one who will be monarch, not his wife. William did so because he was the supporting act at Wimbledon:

Catherine is patron of the All England club, not him. ‘William doesn’t need to be the centre of attention,’ his friend says. ‘Not only that: he’s often happy NOT to be the centre of attention.’

It’s starkly different from the days when William’s father would resent his first wife, Diana, being centre stage. ‘He took it out on me – he was jealous,’ Diana said about Charles in recorded conversations with her voice coach, broadcast by Channel 4 in 2017. ‘I understood the jealousy, but I couldn’t explain that I didn’t ask for it.’

How refreshing that we now have an heir to the throne who celebrates his beautiful wife’s popularity and doesn’t resent her.