Why wasn’t any member of the RF present at the women’s rugby World Cup final yesterday?

[Dustyhem952]

Honestly, I think it was a disgrace!

And an insult to our female players! And the entire team who worked so hard to get to be champions!

If the England’s men’s team had reached the final of the the World Cup, against a Commonwealth country no less, I bet someone would have turned up!

No doubt the team members will be invited to Windsor at some point but I think it’s a huge mid-step that no member of the RF could actually be bothered to travel to the stadium, sit in the stands, and actually cheer the Red Roses on!

Princess Anne often attends Scottish rugby matches. It would have meant so much to the women there if someone in the RF could have turned out for them. People clocked Mark Carney for Canada and could be seen literally looking around to see who was there for us!

Princess Catherine sent a message of support in advance and I have every sympathy with her if she is not well enough to attend a match, But if that was the case, someone in one of the offices at St James’s palace, to which we all collectively contribute a lot of money, should have clocked this situation and made other suitable plans!

Sorry Catherine and William, you can’t just pick and choose the events you want to attend like Wimbledon and Aston Villa matches!

Slightly easier to get to Twickenham from London/Windsor, than to Australia, though.

The PoW is the patron of the English RFU, she should have been there. She managed to attend previous matches. It shouldn’t have been a huge surprise that England made it to the final - they were unbeaten in over 20 internationals coming into the competition, and so plans should have been made accordingly.

And if she was too unwell on the day, then yes absolutely someone else should have been drafted in instead in an official capacity.

Instead all we had was the Mayor of London and Lisa “men should be allowed to play on women’s teams Nandy FFS.

A very poor show, OP, I agree.

I actually liked that. Highlighting girls’ involvement in sport is a very good thing.

Don’t patronise me thanks. I’m saying that whoever was in charge of setting the agenda got it badly wrong.

The Tindalls were not there in an official capacity as far as I understand it.

And contrary to Zara and Mike not being good enough, I have every sympathy for Catherine if she is ill, but why not announce Zara and Mike’s presence in her stead? And have them visible and up front? Adjacent to Mark Carney?

But I think I see now why they couldn’t. It’s the half in half out thing maybe?

The Royals continue to shoot themselves in the foot at every turn imho!

Well in that case why has William repeatedly had his arse handed to him for choosing not to go to Australia to support the womens team in the world cup?

So it's wrong they didn't go to Twickenham because it's close but also wrong they did go to Australia even though it's far away.

Thank you Rockalock and other posters who agree. Glad to know I am not the only one. I genuinely do think it was a very poor decision for them not to be there.

Well there you have it!

Thanks for clarifying ShesTheAlbatross

Some of them can turn up if there’s a nice pay out involved!

I’m really cross about this.

I agree Charlotte being there was good but I think highlighting men/boys can enjoy women’s sport is a strong accompanying message alongside that.

Duty first though isn’t it?

Leaving aside the fact that I actually think there should be a senior royal / senior politician at every major final that a UK constituent country is taking part in, wherever in the world it is happening, to address your point about William not going to Australia:

1. William is president of the Welsh RFU, not the English
2. My point about Kate not attending is about the fact that she is patron of the English RFU, not that she is a Royal.

I would sack the RF’s PR strategists after this!

The Royals could have banked immense good will by simply being there and doing their job.

If they are ill; that’s not their fault, and allowances should be made. But William could have attended.

Are they honestly unaware that there are thousands of families throughout the UK, who don’t have staff to help them, or huge resources, who are dealing with cancer treatment on the NHS and carrying on working and just trying to do their best they can because they can’t afford not to?

I’m probably going to get slammed for saying that, I don’t mean it as a slur against Catherine at all, who always does her job really well, but I don’t think those in charge are picking and choosing the right events if the RF are spread too thinly to cover everything.

Zara and Mike Tindall know what it is like to compete and win at sport at an international level. So in my opinion ideal to attend as members of the Royal Family.

Perhaps she needed time this weekend to spend with her children?

They may have been there but they are not ‘working royals’
so we’re not there in an
official capacity.

A man sharing a women's sport with just his Dd is a good thing it is bonding it shows appreciation of women's sport, I am not a sporty person but womens sport like football/rugby has been seen as a man's sport and now the women's games are shown on an equal footing Princess Charlotte enjoying it with her dad can only be a positive and not a negative,

That's fair enough. I only mentioned William because the OP did.

I think having a senior royal at the final of everything makes sense but then I'm pretty sure we'd get the posts moaning about how outrageous it is that X has gone all the way to New Zealand (for example) on a rugby jolly. They can't win!

Maybe Kate wanted some down time with the kids or attend whatever activities they do at a weekend.
If William was away with his Dad then who was going to care for the kids, no fair to dump them with nannies.

That’s fine if they are representing the country, but according to a pp, they were being paid to attend by Howden’s insurance.

It wasn’t that long ago there were threads questioning why William didn’t show up to the VJ Day events. Previously there were threads about why didn’t William turn up for the women’s football final. There were lovely threads about them going to Wimbledon - they like tennis so they show up for that.

Basically, it’s William and Catherine, lower your expectations of how much work they’ll do. They don’t really do stuff like this any more.

(I do agree it’s the sort of thing Harry would have gone to if he was a working royal, but then isn’t that the role of royal “spares”, you send them to do the dull stuff you don’t fancy.)

I really like Catherine and I hate how she gets bashed for being ‘workshy’ but as she’s patron of the English RFU, she should have been there or least have offered an explanation why she wasn’t. I think the idea that W is away and she couldn’t leave the dcs is a bit rubbish.

William is most definitely one of the laziest members of the royal family ever to have existed. I don’t mind though, hopefully his bone idleness will encourage a bit more British republicanism and we can get rid of the outdated institution sooner rather than later.

Totally, not like she doesn’t have access to a multitude of Nannie’s. She could also quite easily have taken the kids with her.

Maybe she isn’t interested and doesn’t like football. That’s okay.

I was surprised they didn’t attend either. I didn’t realise until the presentation part, where I just assumed one of them would be there to hand out the trophies. William was in Exeter a few weeks ago to watch Wales so had assumed there would be a royal presence at the final. I don’t think that Zara and Mike being hosted there by Howdens is the same thing.

Maybe Kate wanted some down time with the kids
down time from what? Lol

Also "thanks for howdens insurance for having us" rofl

you couldn't make this family up honestly

I have nothing against boys but I do think centering girls/women attending women's sport like Rugby sends out an important representation message for other girls, PW takes his son to mens matches quite a lot.