Prince William jokes on New Heights about football, World Cup hopes

Prince William turned a brief guest spot on New Heights into a candid World Cup conversation, saying he would travel to the United States if England reached the final of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The 28- to 30-minute episode, released Friday, July 3, 2026, centered on the tournament the United States, Canada and Mexico are co-hosting.

Jason Kelce opened by calling him "the 6-foot-3 prince from London, England," and William quickly leaned into the easy tone of the interview. He joked with Travis Kelce about Americans calling the sport soccer rather than football, then shifted to the tournament itself, saying British visitors would be struck by the size of U.S. stadiums.

William said he was "quietly" hopeful about England’s chances and framed victory as the measure of success. He also said his father, King Charles III, "hates football," a line that landed as a punchline but also pointed to a real family divide in sporting loyalties. Official royal material describes William as a keen Aston Villa fan, while Charles has previously described himself as a Burnley supporter.

The prince said his own love of football came from childhood friends who took him to his first Aston Villa match, not from a family tradition. That mattered because William has been president of The Football Association since 2006, after being appointed president-designate in 2005. The Football Association later said he has held the presidency since 2006 and became its patron in 2024, underscoring how closely he remains tied to the public face of English football.

The podcast also revisited a more recent royal-pop culture crossover. William attended Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in London in June 2024 with Prince George and Princess Charlotte, and Travis Kelce made a surprise onstage appearance at Swift’s Wembley Stadium show. The meeting helped set up the easy rapport between William and the Kelce brothers, who have become central figures in one of the most watched intersections of sports and celebrity in recent years.

William’s remarks came as England had just played Croatia, suggesting the interview had been recorded before its release. That timing, combined with the World Cup setting and the royal football banter, gave the episode a rare mix of national team anticipation, family joke and global sports spectacle.