![\"Prince](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0_Prince-William.jpg\")
Prince William has broken royal protocol (Image: Getty)<\/p>\nPrince William, the President of the Football Association, was in attendance as the Lionesses secured a historic win over Germany in the Euro 2022 final, but he went against the late Queen on this outing.Prince William has broken royal protocol (Image: Getty)<\/p>\n
Former Royal butler Grant Harrold has disclosed that Prince William deliberately flouted Royal protocol<\/a> by embracing the victors at the 2022 Euro final.<\/a> The high-stakes match took place at Wembley Stadium, with William in attendance as the President of the Football Association.<\/p>\n The Lionesses triumphed over their longstanding adversaries, Germany, with a score of 2-1 after an intense game that extended into extra time, narrowly avoiding a penalty shootout.<\/p>\n Post-match, William lauded the team for their exceptional play and presented them with their well-deserved medals.<\/p>\n The Duke of Cambridge deviated from tradition<\/a> when he hugged the players while they were on the field, reports the Express<\/a>.<\/p>\n It’s quite uncommon to witness senior royals engaging in public displays of affection, even with their own spouses.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Prince William and Kate ditched security for secret India trip – unlike Harry<\/a>READ MORE: Kate Middleton sparks concern as she pulls out Royal Ascot last-minute<\/a><\/p>\n Yet, according to the former butler, William intentionally disregarded these customary boundaries.<\/p>\n Harrold explained to OK!: “Historically, there was a rule with royals that you could look but you couldn’t touch.<\/p>\n “If you met a royal, you could look at them and if they offered you a handshake, you were to accept it.”<\/p>\n He noted that this was partly due to maintaining the family’s aura of mystery and also for security purposes.<\/p>\n Harrold suggests that William’s warmer approach is part of a concerted effort to present the monarchy as more relatable and signal the dawn of a new, modernized British monarchy.<\/p>\n He remarked: “I think William and the other younger royals have realised that they can’t get away with being aloof.<\/p>\n “The Queen can get away with it because she’s the Queen and she’s from a different era, but the younger royals have been brought up very differently.”<\/p>\n Princess Diana was a trailblazer in showing public affection through physical touch.<\/p>\n The late Princess of Wales is widely recognized for her role in combating the stigma associated with HIV\/AIDS, as she openly embraced those affected by the virus and shook their hands without wearing gloves.<\/p>\n The Princess famously declared, “HIV does not make people dangerous to know. You can shake their hands and give them a hug.<\/p>\n “Heaven knows they need it. What’s more, you can share their homes, their workspaces, and their playgrounds and toys.<\/p>\n Grant pointed out that his late mother’s actions undoubtedly shaped how William interacts with the public today.<\/p>\n He stated: “Diana was a hugger and I think that this physical contact and hugging people has a lot to do with how William was raised.<\/p>\n He further added: “It won’t feel unnatural to William – if anything, it’d feel more uncomfortable if it was just a strict handshake.<\/p>\n “As well as this, seeing royals hug makes them relevant and modern.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Prince William, the President of the Football Association, was in attendance as the Lionesses secured a historic win…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":202820,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7708],"tags":[7709,7714,7713,533,2832,532,1412,2831,7710,519,7711,7712],"class_list":{"0":"post-202819","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-royals","8":"tag-british-royal-family","9":"tag-catherine","10":"tag-catherine-middleton","11":"tag-kate-middleton","12":"tag-prince-of-wales","13":"tag-prince-william","14":"tag-princess-diana","15":"tag-princess-of-wales","16":"tag-royal-families","17":"tag-royal-family","18":"tag-uk-royal-family","19":"tag-william"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114722011105750688","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Prince](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0_Prince-William-hugging-player.jpg\")
According to Grant, William chose to break protocol(Image: Getty)![\"William](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0_William-hugging-player.jpg\")
The royals very rarely engage in public physical affection(Image: Getty)<\/p>\n![\"Diana](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0_Diana-shakes-hands-with-AIDS-patient.jpg\")
Princess Diana was much more affectionate than other royals(Image: Getty)![\"Diana](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0_Diana-hugging-William-and-Harry.jpg\")
Diana’s affectionate parenting influenced William’s approach(Image: Getty)<\/p>\n