Commonwealth Games: William and Kate attend netball thriller in Glasgow with children
The royals perhaps couldn’t have picked a better netball match to watch
The Prince and Princess of Wales have been joined by their three children as they attended the thrilling netball semi-final at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
William and Kate – who are known as the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay while in Scotland – were accompanied by Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis and Prince George during the match at the Hydro arena.
They watched as Jamaica pulled off one of the biggest shocks in netball history to beat defending champions Australia 46-45 and reach the final of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
The royals visited on the penultimate day of the Commonwealth Games, which will have its closing ceremony on Sunday.
After the netball event, the royals emerged from the arena between lines of volunteers for the Games.
They met gold medal-winning para powerlifter Mark Swan and gymnast Reuben Ward on the concourse outside the venue.
Commonwealth Games mascot Finnie also high-fived George, Charlotte and Louis and fist-bumped Kate.
The family were then cheered by the waiting crowds as they made their way to their waiting cars.
On Saturday, events including netball, athletics, boxing and judo are taking place.
In recent days, the sporting event – affectionately known as the “friendly games” – has been attended by the Duke of Edinburgh, vice patron of Commonwealth Sport, which delivers the games, and his wife.
Earlier, the King and Queen emerged from a Tardis at the Hydro arena during the opening ceremony.
The light-hearted moment was reminiscent of London 2012 when Queen Elizabeth II appeared to skydive into the Olympic Stadium alongside James Bond actor Daniel Craig.
The opening ceremony in Glasgow was the first to be held indoors as part of a radical restructuring of the games’ finances after Australian state Victoria withdrew as host of the event in 2023, citing spiralling costs.
The future of the event, which originated as the British Empire Games in 1930, was in doubt until Glasgow was convinced to step in and reprise its hosting role from 2014, albeit with significant alterations.
William and Kate will also spend time with athletes competing at the games whose careers have been empowered by the charity SportsAid, which Kate has supported as patron since 2013, and meet emerging talent taking part in the Team England Futures project.
Sporting stars whose early promise was boosted by SportsAid include Sir Chris Hoy, Ellie Simmonds, Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill and Tom Daley.
Team England Futures has given talented young athletes and aspiring support staff the opportunity to attend the Glasgow games to gain behind-the-scenes experience in preparation for potential medal-winning performances as Team England, Team GB or ParalympicsGB debutants.
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