AN WILSON: I have no doubt if England’s men had reached the World Cup final, Prince William would be there

We now know that Queen Letizia of Spain and her daughter Infanta Sofia will travel to Australia to see their country’s team play the Lionesses in the Women’s World Cup final.

Yet it seems no member of our own Royal Family will be going, and Rishi Sunak won’t be either. In fact, the most senior member of the Government to attend will be Lucy Frazer. ‘Who?’, you might well ask. She is the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

So, when the Spanish team look up at the stands on Sunday morning they will see their Queen. When our brave Lionesses strain their eyes to see a British grandee, they will be forgiven for not recognising anyone at all, and certainly not Lucy Frazer, however nice or interesting she may be.

What a shameful – and sad –reflection this is of officialdom’s attitude to such a joyous and important national occasion.

I can understand the King’s reluctance at his age to fly at short notice to Australia. But surely the youthful Prince of Wales, currently taking a summer break from royal duties, could have made the trip.

No member of the Royal Family, nor Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, will be travelling to Australia to support the Lionesses in the Women’s World Cup final. Pictured: Alessia Russo of England (C) celebrates with teammates after scoring the 1-3 goal during the FIFA Women’s World Cup semi-final on Wednesday

Prince William is president of the Football Association and claims to be a genuine fan of the Beautiful Game. He is pictured in June with the England Women’s team as he visits the national football centre at St. George’s Park to wish them luck ahead of the 2023 Women’s World Cup

He is president of the Football Association and claims to be a genuine fan of the Beautiful Game. It is not enough to send a personal message to the team congratulating them on their ‘phenomenal performance’ after Wednesday’s match, and wishing them all the best against Spain.

He should be there in person, just as the late Queen was at the 1966 final, when she so memorably handed the World Cup to Bobby Moore after the game. The Lionesses aren’t just brilliant footballers and amazing personalities. 

They have also helped to effect a revolution. In order to become the distinguished football professionals they are today, they had to break through something seemingly much more impenetrable than the ‘glass ceiling’ which for so long prevented women from becoming judges, newspaper editors or chief executives of banks.

They are true revolutionaries, who endured teasing and bullying and condescension from their male counterparts in childhood and beyond. They have changed the game – they don’t whinge like the men, they don’t mob the ref or dive in the penalty box. And you won’t find their fans wallowing in gallons of lager and hurling abuse.

Pictured: Prince William gives an honorary CBE to England manager Sarina Wiegman as he visits England Women’s team to wish them luck ahead of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup

Yet, now they have reached this prodigious summit, they are met with the same old attitudes that threatened their very careers at the outset. Because there is no doubt in my mind that if our male team had reached the final of the World Cup, Prince William and senior ministers would have travelled any distance to watch them. 

It’s still not too late for the prince and his sports-loving wife and children to get on a plane and go to the match. The Lionesses are made of sterling stuff of course, and they will play like heroines whether Britain sends a proper grandee to watch them, or not.

But what is important here is the message sent to the rest of us. Many of us fans, especially old male codgers like myself, have actually been changed by watching the stratospheric success of the Lionesses, since their progressive triumphs in last year’s Uefa European Women’s Championship.

They are a beacon of feminism – they carry a flag not just for British football but for British women of all classes and ages. That is why it is more than a bit sad that not one member of the Royal Family nor any senior minister can be bothered to get on a plane to cheer them to victory on Sunday.

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