Prince William makes cheeky joke as he is gifted footballs

Prince William showed off his witty sense of humour on Tuesday as he attended an NFL Foundation community event in London. 

The Prince of Wales, 42, joined members of the foundation in Kennington Park, focusing on tackling challenges faced by young people in some of the most deprived areas of the UK. 

After impressing the professional players with his efforts on the pitch, William couldn’t resist making a cheeky comment about his sporting ability.  

When he was given three mini balls to take home for his three children, Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, nine, and Prince Louis, six, as well as a full size one for himself, he laughed: ‘I’ll do some practice at home and see how many windows I can smash.’ 

The royal joined a community event in south London hosted by the NFL Foundation UK, a charity that works with young people in deprived areas.

It uses NFL Flag, a non-contact version of American football, to engage teenagers and help change lives.

The prince was wearing a very bright pair of trainers with his suit for the visit. 

Not a mark was to be seen on William’s shoes, which are thought to be Toms, and appeared in a pristine condition. 

The Prince gamely had a go at several throwing drills before taking to the pitch as a quarterback.

Louis Rees-Zammit, a former Welsh rugby player who recently switched to NFL, was impressed with his skills.

‘He can throw the ball,’ he said. ‘He can throw the ball better than me. He can get a good spiral on the ball as well, not like me!’

Phoebe Schecter, GB women’s flag football team captain, added: ‘His arm strength is incredible. I could not believe how far he could throw the ball. He did a great job. Very coachable.’

One activity involved throwing the ball into one of several small holes in a large net.

After getting some advice on how to stand and how to hold the ball, the Prince missed his first shot but was elated to get his second in the net.

There were jubilant high fives all round as he joked: ‘One out of two’s alright. I’ll retire on that. That’s my NFL career.’

After being persuaded to go again, he was disappointed to miss, complaining that he ‘got no spin on it’s. The Prince asked how to get the ball to ‘spin properly’ before throwing his fourth shot wide of the net but then scoring his fifth, to loud cheers.

William also tried his hand at throwing the ball to teenagers who ran and dived onto a crash mat as they landed and throwing it to others from a distance, with mixed results.

He admitted he did not understand the tactics involved in NFL, saying that if he did, he ‘might get a bit more into it.’

The Prince was accompanied on the visit to Kennington Park by Henry Hodgson, general manager of NFL UK, and Will Stone, head of social impact and government strategy.

They explained that flag football has become increasingly popular in the UK, with a surge in the number of schools involved and the sport due to be played at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

The NFL Foundation, which is celebrating its three-year anniversary, is the first NFL charitable arm to be launched overseas.

The Prince met representatives from NFL UK and community partners to hear about the work being undertaken to help young people develop confidence and reach their potential through sport.

He asked many of the teenagers playing for their communities what it was they liked about the sport, how it differed to rugby and football and what kind of skills they needed.

He told Ms Schecter that when he was younger he used to play the sport on the beach. ‘One summer we had 12 of us on the beach, it was loads of fun,’he said.

As patron of the Welsh Rugby Union, the Prince had met Rees-Zammit on more than one occasion. ‘Good to see you again, different guise!’ he said.

William asked which skills NFL were looking for and what the differences were between the two sports. ‘Is it like chalk and cheese?’ he asked. ‘Do you come on for two minutes and just blitz it and go off again?’

The NFL has been playing regular-season games in London since 2007, with games being played this month at the Tottenham Hotspur and Wembley stadiums.

The NFL Foundation UK launched in 2021 in partnership with the Mayor of London’s Sport Unites fund and has since received funding from Sport England to expand beyond London to Greater Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds through a partnership with the San Francisco 49ers.

On this occasion, William was making a solo outing without the Princess of Wales, who has been making a slow but steady return to engagements following her preventative chemotherapy treatment.  

Later on, William met with Welsh athlete and NFL player Louis Rees-Zammit and GB Women’s Flag football captain Phoebe Schecter. 

The heir to the throne posed with Zammit, 23, holding a special NFL shirt reading ‘HRH 24’, before taking a group photograph with the participants. 

The NFL Foundation, which is celebrating its three year anniversary, aims to provide a fast-paced, inclusive and easy to access American Football format. 

Flag football is a rapidly growing sport in the UK and will be played in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.  

It comes after William revealed he took ‘inspiration’ and ‘guidance’ from his mother Princess Diana in his work to end homelessness, where he is also seen giving out hugs while visiting a homeless charity.

Speaking in a new preview for his upcoming ITV documentary Prince William: We Can End Homelessness, the Prince of Wales showed the behind the scenes journey of his campaign Homewards. 

The exclusive ITV documentary charts the first year of his campaign to end homelessness. 

The future king has set his sights on making rough sleeping, sofa surfing and temporary accommodation a thing of the past in his ambitious five-year initiative programme called Homewards. 

William, 42, says in the new clip: ‘I’ve slowly tried to work out what I can bring to the role and platform that I have.

‘I have taken some inspiration and guidance from what my mother did, particularly with homelessness.’

In the short clip, posted to Instagram, William is seen speaking to former English footballer Farah Williams, who was herself once homeless – and others working with Homewards. 

‘I don’t believe we should be living with homelessness in the 21st century,’ William adds. 

The Prince of Wales described it as a ‘unique opportunity’ to create lasting change, as he builds on the legacy of his late mother Princess Diana. 

The two-part series, which has the working title Prince William: We Can End Homelessness, will follow William as he launches Homewards across the country. 

It will involve stories from those who are currently experiencing homelessness or have previously been homeless.