Two Sundays ago, Football Association President Prince William attended the Women’s Euro final at Wembley. The Lionesses – the English team – won! They beat the German team. Prince William truly beamed with pride and he was happy to walk out onto the pitch to personally congratulate the Lionesses and present the trophy. Notably, he was not willing to do the same last year when the Three Lions lost in the Euro final – William skipped the trophy presentation and failed to congratulate the Italian team. During the trophy presentation, William shook hands or hugged every Lioness. He seemed… especially keen. Now it sounds like he’s been making a special effort with the Lionesses for a while. Interesting.

The Duke of Cambridge, who is the president of the Football Association (FA), showed to the world his happiness following the triumph of England female football team – known as the Lionesses – at the Women’s Euro. Following the final held at Wembley Stadium on July 31, Prince William wholeheartedly hugged the players as he handed out the medals.

Now, one of the victorious Lionesses has described just how sincere the second-in-line to the throne’s interest in the team has been over the past years.

Defender Lucy Bronze said the Duke had, on more than one occasion, visited the team while they were training for the Euro tournament.

She told OK! magazine: “He gets on really well with Jill Scott because he’s come to a couple of our camps and Jill is our longest serving player so they’ve built up a friendship. Jill said he basically jumped on top of her and hugged her so tight! It’s nice to know he’s a big fan and supporter. He’s not just handing out the medals, he’s been to see us play plenty of times.”

Speaking of William’s reaction to the victory of the Lionesses last month, Bronze added: “I think he was more excited than some of the players!”

[From The Daily Express]

On one side, I think the Lionesses see William as harmless and a true cheerleader for their team and for women’s sports. Like, whatever you think of this copykeening, incandescent mess of a man, he is “important” and it’s genuinely nice to see the future Prince of Wales beaming with joy over women’s football. That being said, there’s an edge to this story. The women didn’t do anything wrong, obviously. They’re existing, they’re thriving, they’re winning, they’re total badasses. But “Jill said he basically jumped on top of her and hugged her so tight” caused a major eye twitch. (Jill Scott is engaged to a woman, btw.)

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.