Continuing in the vein of my last blog, happy TV sport, this one relates to a game I watched on Saturday 5th November 2022. It was England Men v Papua New Guinea in the 2021 Rugby League World Cup quarterfinals at the DW Stadium in Wigan, UK.
At the pre-match ceremony, the Princess of Wales, who is patron of the RFL, was the matchday guest. It was pouring with rain throughout the ceremony but HRH was quite happy to carry an umbrella and take her time as she was presented to 36 players and 3 officials, also in tow were 36 proud child mascots.
During the 7-minute presentation, the Princess of Wales shook hands with all the players and officials and happily talked to about half of them; she was obviously enjoying the event and smiled throughout. HRH also spoke to many of the children, who are often ignored by officials on such occasions.
One of the TV team members described her as being very personable; a truly accurate description, I think.
During the game there were players from the women’s England Rugby League team sitting on each side of the Princess as she had met their whole team before the game. Earlier in the day, at the same venue, in the women’s Rugby League World Cup Quarter Final, England beat Canada 54 – 4, to win a place in the semi-finals.
HRH enjoyed watching the full match and was seen at the end clapping for the England team who won the game 46 – 6.
Catherine, the Princess of Wales, is like a breath of fresh air and a great asset to the British Royal Family and the British people, in my opinion.
John Lightfoot
