NEED TO KNOW<\/p>\n
Prince William<\/a> is back in his element \u2014 rallying behind England\u2019s top soccer stars as they gear up for the Euros\n<\/p>\n On Monday, June 30, the Prince of Wales, 43, made a surprise visit to the England women\u2019s national team \u2014 known as the Lionesses \u2014 to personally present official squad jerseys to all 23 players ahead of the tournament.\n<\/p>\n The prince \u2014 who serves as patron of the Football Association, the governing body of the sport in England \u2014 began his visit to the team\u2019s training base at St. George\u2019s Park in the English Midlands with a chat with England Head Coach Sarina Wiegman about the squad\u2019s preparation and strategy for success. He then spent time with several players and their families, hearing how they\u2019re gearing up for the tournament. The Lionesses kick off their Euro 2025 campaign against France on July 5.\n<\/p>\n Prince William meets the England ‘Lionesses’.<\/p>\n DARREN STAPLES\/POOL\/AFP via Getty<\/p>\n Prince William\u2019s daughter, Princess Charlotte<\/a>, is sure to be thrilled to hear all about his visit to the team. As a passionate soccer player herself, Charlotte, 10, has a special connection to the Lionesses. She previously appeared alongside her father in a heartfelt video message<\/a> sent to the team during the 2022 Women\u2019s World Cup.\n<\/p>\n Three years ago, as the tournament kicked off in Australia, William surprised the Lionesses with a warm video greeting, joined by Charlotte, who held a soccer ball in her lap. \u201cWe\u2019re so proud of everything you\u2019ve achieved and the millions you\u2019ve inspired here and around the world,\u201d William said at the time. \u201cSo go out there tomorrow and really enjoy yourselves.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n On Monday, William also took part in a Made for This Game session with junior girls\u2019 teams, joining former Lionesses Rachel Brown-Finnis and Kerry Davis to cheer on the next generation of talent.\n<\/p>\n The teams, made up of elementary and high school players, were created in the wake of the Lionesses’ historic victory at the 2022 Euros \u2014 a milestone that sparked a nationwide surge in girls\u2019 participation in football. Since 2020, the Football Association reports a 56% increase in female youth players. The Made for This Game campaign was launched to build on that momentum and grow grassroots involvement across the country.<\/p>\n Prince William with the Lionesses.<\/p>\n DARREN STAPLES\/POOL\/AFP via Getty<\/p>\n Can’t get enough of PEOPLE’s Royals coverage?\u00a0Sign up for our free Royals newsletter<\/a>\u00a0to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n During a 2022 visit with the team, William was gifted personalized jerseys<\/a> for his three children \u2014\u00a0Prince George<\/a>, 11, Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis<\/a>, 7.\n<\/p>\n A devoted soccer fan, William has had an action-packed season cheering on his favorite club, Aston Villa \u2014 often with Prince George by his side. The Birmingham-based team enjoyed a standout year, making a strong run in the Champions League. William followed the action closely, traveling to Monaco with friends and to Paris with George<\/a> to watch the team compete on the European stage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEED TO KNOW Prince William made an unannounced visit to the England women’s soccer team, nicknamed the Lionesses,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99744,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7708],"tags":[5105,7710,519,448],"class_list":{"0":"post-226609","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-royals","8":"tag-royal","9":"tag-royal-families","10":"tag-royal-family","11":"tag-royals"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114772342559414925","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226609","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=226609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}