Prince William Got Booed At The FA Cup Final
The UK royal family appears to be having a bit of a rough patch with the public. With things like The Crown, the Case of the Pedo Prince, everything involving Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and that disastrous Caribbean Tour, the family just can’t seem to catch a break. At the very least the people of the UK still love and adore them. Or so they thought! Prince William took his worldwide booing tour home for the FA Cup final and was greeted with – you guessed it – boos!
For the less sport inclined, the FA Cup is an annual tournament where English soccer teams play against one another (my husband gave me more of an in-depth rundown, but this is all I understood). This year’s final took place in Liverpool and pitted Liverpool against Chelsea. As president of the Football Association, Prince William was set to attend the final. It did not go so smoothly. According to The Daily Mail:
Liverpool fans sparked widespread outrage yesterday for booing Prince William and the National Anthem at the FA Cup Final.
Jeers rang out around Wembley Stadium as the Duke of Cambridge, who is president of the Football Association, was introduced to Chelsea and Liverpool players before kick-off.
Fans gesticulated and made obscene hand gestures while the solemn Prince stood singing God Save the Queen. The outburst by thousands of fans was last night denounced across the political spectrum.
The jeers started during a rendition of the Christian hymn Abide With Me by the 60-strong B Positive Choir, whose members have sickle cell disease or who have close friends or family suffering from it.
It erupted again as Prince William was introduced to the crowd and began shaking the hands of the players. The booing and jeers reached their peak during the National Anthem.
An unexpected moment at today's #FACupFinal, where Liverpool fans booed Prince William and National Anthem. My understanding (correct me if I'm wrong, Twitter) is that it's still felt there was an establishment cover-up over the Hillsborough disaster and getting justice for it. pic.twitter.com/uFLAJEJp30
— Omid Scobie (@scobie) May 14, 2022
Two fingers directed at the crown? Yikes. It’s not particularly clear who booed, but fingers are being pointed squarely at the Liverpool fans. They are “well-known” for booing God Save the Queen when at Wembley Stadium and Liverpudlians, in general, have a history of animosity towards government (particularly Conservative/Tory) and the British establishment. So, combine a member of the monarchy with a group of vocal fans who hate your current government, and you get yourself a symphony of boos! Of course, this has not gone down well with local government officials.
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said: ‘I utterly condemn any fans who booed Prince William at Wembley today.
‘The FA Cup final should be an occasion when we come together as a country. It should not be ruined by a minority of fans’ totally shameful behaviour. In this year of all years – the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee – this is dreadful.’
Tory MP and former Culture Secretary Karen Bradley said: ‘It is utterly unacceptable and disgraceful that fans booed Prince William. I would urge the FA to take all necessary action and pursue those responsible.’
Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats said: ‘We have the most wonderful Monarch and those fans who booed do not represent their clubs or our country.’
Apart from congratulating the winners (spoilers: it was Liverpool), Prince William hasn’t said much about his visit and likely never will. Unless an entire country jeers at him, I doubt he finds it worth issuing a long tweet statement. The way I see it, someone needs to bring these booing fans over to any event where Prince Andrew is present. That creep should not be allowed in public without a Greek chorus of boos!
Pic: INSTARImages