The Prince of Wales joked about pulling a “horrendous” pint as he spent St David’s Day in Wrexham to celebrate the National Day of Wales.
His first stop of a day of engagements was to Wrexham AFC. The football club has seen a historic rise over the past three years since the takeover by Hollywood stars, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Prince William, 41, downed a shot and pulled a pint in the supporters’ home bar – and joked it needed time to settle, as he met Rob, staff, players and members of the local community in The Turf pub next to the club’s stadium, before heading to the pitch.
“Still got a horrible head on it, that’s why I don’t work behind the bar. That might settle in about an hour, talk among yourselves,” the royal quipped.
The father-of-three and renowned football fan has been President of the Football Association since 2006 and is a huge supporter of Aston Villa.
Praising the club’s underdog story which saw the team promoted to the Football League after a 15-year absence, William said: “It’s a great success story you’re building here, everything you’ve started and achieved it’s fantastic, so onwards and upwards – it’s exciting. And anyone who’s a true football fan wants to see you do well.”
Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds was unable to travel from the US for the royal visit as he is editing the latest instalment of his Deadpool movie series. He and Rob previously met King Charles and Queen Camilla when they visited Wrexham in December 2022.
William’s appearance comes the day after he visited a synagogue in London where he said that he and his wife are “extremely concerned about the rise in anti-Semitism”.
As he spoke with young people, the Prince condemned the rise in hatred directed against the country’s Jewish community saying “anti-Semitism has no place in society”.
William and Kate became the Prince and Princess of Wales following Queen Elizabeth II’s death and King Charles’ accession to the throne in September 2022.
