On paper at least, it must have seemed an
attractive proposition: for sports mad Prince William to become the
Vice Royal Patron of the Welsh Rugby Union.
In reality, though, it was always destined to be a diplomatic minefield.
He's not even two weeks into his
new role with the Welsh side, but already Prince William appears to
have isolated himself from some supporters.
An official fans' message board on the WRU website
has been inundated with criticism of the 24-year-old Prince after he
and girlfriend Kate Middleton were shown excitedly cheering the success
of Jonny Wilkinson's England squad as they triumphed over Italy last
Saturday.
Fans of the Welsh national side were angry at the Prince's decision to appear in the stands at Twickenham rather than travel North to support Wales in their crucial match against Scotland.
Murrayfield did welcome a royal visitor through its doors on Saturday
afternoon: Princess Anne, accompanied by her husband, Tim Laurence, met
the teams before the Scotland v. Wales match.
Unfortunately for the Welsh fans, though, the royal visitor was there
to unashamedly cheer on her side, Scotland, of whom she is a loyal and
faithful supporter.
Although a spokesman from the WRU has defended the rights of supporters to voice their opinions with "robust debate", the posts condemning the team's Vice Royal Patron have disappeared from the website.
A source diplomatically explains: "We are
delighted that Prince William agreed to become our Vice Royal Patron
and will happily defend the decision to invite him to accept the role.
We fully understand some people may disagree with that and they have
the right to air their views."
