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Later today, England will face off against Argentina in the World Cup Semifinals.
And even though he’s a patron of the team (and soccer is one of the main passions of his life), Prince William will almost certainly not be on hand for the big game.
In fact, William has yet to attend any of the national team’s matches.
It’s not like William doesn’t have the means to attend these matches if he wanted to.
So what gives? Why is a man who has spent his life making himself the poster boy of English soccer so uninterested in his team’s historic run?
Well, there could be any number of reasons why William has been a no-show thus far.
As many outlets have noted, he was busy with Wimbledon and other commitments over the past couple of weeks.
(Those commitments did not include meeting up with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle during their recent trip to London. The brothers, it seems, are still not on speaking terms.)
But England has played six World Cup matches over the past month, and it seems that William could have easily attended at least one of them if he had really wanted to.
Some observers believe that he’s decided to distance himself from the tournament because he’s been upstaged by Harry.
Yes, in addition to the fact that Harry is now a full-time resident of the US, he’s been open about his enjoyment of this year’s World Cup, even putting in an appearance on FIFA After Hours with James Corden.
Others believe that William is steering clear for political reasons, noting that England’s star player, Harry Kane, is on friendly terms with Donald Trump.
That theory seems a bit far-fetched, as William has never voiced any strong opinions about the current state of American politics.
No, the most likely theory — uninteresting though it may be — is that prior commitments have prevented William from making the trans-Atlantic trip.
But during his appearance on Travis and Jason Kelce’s “New Heights” podcast, William revealed that he will be in attendance if England advances all the way to the World Cup Final.
So the future king has a whole lot riding on this afternoon’s match.