The Duke of Cambridge correctly predicted the score for the FA Cup final last night, as he hosted guests to watch the highly-anticipated game at the Sandringham estate.
Prince William, 38, is spending lockdown at Amner Hall in Norfolk with wife Kate Middleton, also 38, and children Prince George, seven, Princess Charlotte, five, and Prince Louis, two.
The second-in-line to the throne joined guests on blue and white striped deckchairs to watch the match on a big screen at the Queen’s estate, with Wembley empty due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Duke of Cambridge correctly predicted the score for the FA Cup final last night as he hosted guests to watch the highly-anticipated game at the Sandringham estate. He is pictured with former Arsenal player Tony Adams
Prince William, 38, is spending lockdown at Amner Hall in Norfolk with wife Kate Middleton, also 38, and children Prince George, seven, Princess Charlotte, five, and Prince Louis, two. He is pictured on the estate as he invited guests to watch the game
In a light-hearted conservation before kick-off, William said: ‘I’m thinking 2-1 Arsenal. ‘I’m not allowed to predict apparently.
‘People say, “you’re the president of the FA, you can’t”.’
‘I’m like, “I’m not officiating, I can predict surely, I’m not actually a referee”.’
The Duke was joined by guests including former England and Arsenal captain Tony Adams, who helped found Heads Up, as well as Lioness and Chelsea women’s player Fran Kirby, who has previously spoken about her own struggles with depression, and comedian Romesh Ranganathan, who is an ambassador for the charity Calm – the Campaign Against Living Miserably.
The second-in-line to the throne joined guests on blue and white striped deckchairs to watch the game on a big screen at the Queen’s estate. Guests included former England and Arsenal captain Tony Adams, (right) who helped found Heads Up; Lioness and Chelsea women’s player Fran Kirby, who has previously spoken about her own struggles with depression, and comedian Romesh Ranganathan (left), who is an ambassador for the charity Calm – the Campaign Against Living Miserably
Speaking to an Arsenal fan before the game, William correctly predict the Gunners’ 2-1 victory. He is pictured with former Arsenal ace Tony Adams
The father-of-three also revealed his nerves ‘were the worst he’s ever known them’ as he watched his club Aston Villa secure their Premier League status with a 1-1 draw against West Ham.
Speaking to two Norwich fans, Aston Villa supporter William said: ‘Commiserations. I honestly thought I was going to be joining you guys this season. It was so close.
‘We were a bit lucky as well. It’s been a weird season.’
Proving he’s a passionate football fan, the father-of-three also revealed this nerves ‘were the worst he’s ever known them’ as he watched his club Aston Villa secure their Premier League status with a 1-1 draw against West Ham. He is pictured reacting to the game
Speaking about Villa’s draw at West Ham on Sunday, which ensured they avoided relegation from the Premier League, the duke said: ‘My children looked at me in horror as I was jumping off the sofa, screaming my head off.
‘It’s very good news that as president of the FA that I can hide away until these moments, and I’m not visibly seen because it was one of the most stressful moments of my life, as I imagine every Villa fan felt on that day.
‘But I’m very proud of everything the club has done this year and look forward to next season.’
William usually attends the final at Wembley Stadium, but it was empty due to the coronavirus pandemic. The future king also changed the name of the final to reflect his mental health campaign
The Heads Up campaign is a partnership between the FA and the Cambridges’ Heads Together initiative.
Heads Together combines a campaign to tackle stigma and change the conversation on mental health with fundraising for a series of innovative new mental health services.
Speaking about the initiative the Duke of Cambridge said there is ‘a long way to go’ to remove the stigma around mental health issues as he urged football clubs to ‘aspire to be much better’.
The prince was also joined by a small group of frontline workers, Heads Up ambassadors and members of Norfolk-based Arsenal and Chelsea supporters’ groups.
Before kick-off, William spoke to some of his guests and heard about their experiences of coping with mental health challenges.
Discussing the stigma around mental health with guests, William told the BBC: ‘We’ve got a long way to go to kind of shatter the whole thing (the stigma around mental health), but days like today and campaigns like this hopefully are shifting us all in the right direction.
‘The fact that all the football world have signed a mental health declaration stating that this matters shows that at least sportsmen and women are thinking about it as part of their day to day life and it’s the same in the blue light community, so the NHS, the police.
Former England and Arsenal captain Tony Adams, who helped found Heads Up with the Cambridges, joined the Duke for the viewing
The duke said the campaign, which has been encouraging football fans to talk about issues in their lives, had been built on ‘other people’s good work’
‘We want to open up and be more understanding about mental health matters and hopefully society catches up and they go ‘if they can do it we can as well’. It’s a long thing.’
The duke said the campaign, which has been encouraging football fans to talk about issues in their lives, had been built on ‘other people’s good work’.
He said he hoped the legacy from the initiative would make ‘mentally healthy clubs look at themselves and want to aspire to be that much better’.
He was speaking to Ben Summers, 41, from Grays in Essex, who is a volunteer for Shout, a 24/7 text service to help people in crisis, which was developed by the Cambridges’ Royal Foundation.
Pictured: The free kick that had Prince William ‘jumping off the sofa’ as he saw Aston Villa being saved from relegation last weekend
Mr Summers said afterwards: ‘He seems to get it.
‘I volunteer with Shout that he set up as well and he said he’s been on the platform and done it himself so the fact he’s volunteered on there and must have talked to people via text, they wouldn’t have known who they were talking to, it’s incredible that he puts himself into it.
‘It’s okay being the face of something, but he’s actually putting the effort into it and doing it himself.’
The Duke of Cambridge said he wants football clubs to ‘aspire to be much better’ around the issue of mental health in the future. It’s the latest move in Prince William’s campaign to raise awareness for mental health
It’s the latest move in Prince William’s campaign to raise awareness for mental health.
Yesterday he also released a video speaking with England manager Gareth Southgate where the pair discussed mental health in sport.
The Prince also appeared on BBC 5Live’s That Peter Crouch Podcast, which was released this week, where he joked he hopes Prince George will one day be Aston Villa’s top scorer, and added that it’s ‘not a weakness’ to discuss mental health.