Prince William and David Beckham have been slammed for their messages of support to the Lionesses.
Football legend David, who played for the England men’s team from 1996 to 2009, and the future King, both posted videos wishing the team luck ahead of their clash with Spain on 20 August.
Despite a valiant effort, the Lionesses were beaten one-nil by Spain in a tense clash.
However, they’re still being lauded for changing the face of women’s football – and for being the first England team to make a World Cup Final since 1966.
However, some feminist groups have said that some supporters, whether they mean well or not, have been getting it badly wrong.
Grassroots Australian feminist group MFW have hit out at both David Beckham and Prince William for their decision to include only their daughters as they sent messages of support.
Prince William shared a clip from a bench alongside his daughter Princess Charlotte, who was appropriately clutching a football.
“Lionesses I want to send you a huge good luck for tomorrow. We’re sorry we can’t be there in person, we’re so proud of everything you’ve achieved and the millions you’ve inspired here and around the world,” the Prince of Wales said: “go out there tomorrow and really enjoy yourselves.”
“Good luck lionesses,” Charlotte added as she grinned at the camera.
Quote tweeting the clip, the feminist group accused William of “sexism” over his decision to include Charlotte, but neither of his two sons George and Louis, in the video.
They also highlighted David Beckham’s tribute, in which he said, “Seeing you girls play as a team, it’s been really incredible. So continue to do so, good luck in this next game, and just know that our whole nation is behind you, as always.”
He then panned to show his 11 year old daughter Harper sitting across from him, who also shouted “good luck Lionesses!”
Taking to their X account, MFW wrote: “Both Prince William and David Beckham sending videos of themselves and their daughters to the Lionesses before their World Cup match last night was openly sexist. Because both featured only their daughters and none of their sons.”
They added that “it’s still considered undesirable and even icky that boys might have female role models or be cheering for a women’s team.”
The group also claimed that they see the decision as a “micro-aggression” before highlighting the fact that William, who is the President of the Football Association, skipped the match.
They branded this “a far bigger aggressive act”, before arguing that “none of this is innocent, and none of this is fair.”
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