Prince William halts summer break to make huge announcement
The Prince of Wales, who is patron of the Football Association, will be at the finale of Women's Euros in Basel after England beat Italy in a thrilling victory last night. They will play the winners of the semi-final between Germany and Spain tonight.
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Times
an hour ago
- Times
Sarina Wiegman boogies to Burna Boy at England Euros parade in London
Of all of England's remarkable achievements of the past month, Sarina Wiegman dancing to afrobeats on stage in front of 65,000 people may be the most extraordinary. This episode was the highlight of England's parade for the Euro 2025 trophy, which made the equivalent event in 2022 feel like small fry. Starting along The Mall, concluding in front of Buckingham Palace and watched by an exultant crowd, this was a final, emphatic symbol that this team has the nation fawning. Three years ago England marked their first Euros title with a ceremony in Trafalgar Square. While the mood was euphoric and emotional, the occasion felt a little underwhelming and as if it had been thrown together at the last minute. Held the day after England had won the final in front of 87,192 people at Wembley, the celebration attracted 7,000 fans. Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager. Yet on Tuesday, less than 48 hours after England had won their second successive Euros title by toppling Spain in Switzerland, the team enjoyed a massive, spectacular and at times surreal parade. Several fans defied police instructions by climbing over fences for better vantage points. Unlike in 2022, when supporters were generally happy to offer mellow congratulations, spectators were immersed in Lionesses mania. Most importantly, the 2025 version had Wiegman's dance moves. She initially cut a reserved, cerebral figure after becoming England's head coach in 2021, and remained relatively restrained throughout the Euro 2022 triumph. She has since gradually let her guard down, and showed more emotion than ever during England's thrilling run to Euro 2025 glory. Yet even her animated approach in Switzerland had prepared no one for the scenes on Tuesday. First, two bits of context. In a press conference in November 2023, Wiegman admitted that her favourite song was For My Hand by Burna Boy, featuring Ed Sheeran. During Euro 2025 she occasionally broke out into a dance to celebrate England's dramatic victories. The outcome? Burna Boy surprising Wiegman during the parade, of course. The singer emerged just after Wiegman had been interviewed, prompting an expression of shock from the usually calm and collected coach. Before anyone could quite process what was happening, Wiegman was unveiling her dance moves while her players cheered her on from behind. This was a trivial moment with a meaningful undertone. Wiegman has been perceived as a stern, blunt Dutchwoman who is brilliant at winning football matches but not exactly much fun at a party. However, as she displayed some rather nifty footwork, it was clear that she knows how to enjoy herself too. Some supporters will never accept a foreigner leading the national team but, if any coach can become an honorary Englishwoman, it is Wiegman. She has delivered unprecedented success and is now sufficiently beloved by the country to feel comfortable making herself look silly in front of an enormous audience. There were other memorable moments from the parade. A tearful Leah Williamson could barely talk as she looked down The Mall. Lucy Bronze at least acted the most hungover. Chloe Kelly was unsurprisingly the one to drop the f-bomb. Heather Small made a late cameo to sing Proud. There was room for the profound too, as the Euros trophy was brought on to the stage by Kerry Davis, the Lionesses's first black player. Nevertheless, Wiegman stole the show. She is a prodigious tactician, empathetic woman-manager and, as the parade revealed, a goofy dancer. Right now, it is impossible not to love her.
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Lionesses captain Leah Williamson sends emotional nine-word statement to fans as she laps up Euro 2025 victory parade
After an emotional, erratic 10 minutes for Lionesses captain Leah Williamson, which saw her bawling her eyes out down the Mall, she uttered the words every English football fan wanted to hear: 'Stay with us — this story is not done yet.' England celebrated their second European crown in style on Tuesday afternoon with an open-top bus parade that delivered them to the gates of Buckingham Palace, drawing a 65,000-strong crowd. It was a marked upgrade on the Trafalgar Square celebrations following their 2022 triumph, which was hastily assembled and capped at 7,000. This time, the event was planned in advance and emphatically dispelled defender Esme Morgan's concerns that there would not be enough people to fill the space. A choked-up Williamson told the crowd: 'I'm in the trenches, I am holding back tears. I have been crying all the way down the Mall, this is unbelievable.' Then the 28-year-old Arsenal defender added, with a nod to the upcoming World Cup in Brazil in 2027: 'Stay with us — this story is not done yet.' Lucy Bronze, who defied logic by playing the tournament with a fractured tibia, was asked by former England international Alex Scott whether she planned to hang up her boots. The defender replied simply: 'Not yet!'
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Two days of solid partying and no sleep... but the Lionesses are still at peak bounce! JANE FRYER on England's Euro winners
The decibel levels were pretty high already on The Mall – horns blowing, fans shouting and helicopters thumping overhead. But when the open-top bus finally crawls along behind the bobbing white hats and sliding trombones of the Band of His Majesty's Royal Marines Portsmouth, the 65,000-strong crowd goes completely bananas. Screaming girls draped in England flags are hoisted on to shoulders. Women in full football kit clutch each other and yell. Middle-aged men jump up and down. Flags and mobile phones fill the sky, and everyone lurches forward for a glimpse of our returning champions. Who, somehow, after a gruelling tournament with an awful lot of extra time, two days of solid partying (with a short break for a Downing Street reception) a couple of 4am finishes and almost no sleep, are still at peak bounce. Jumping and dancing and punching the air. There's Chloe Kelly skipping and singing. Michelle Agyemang at the back. Captain Leah Williamson weeping. Coach Sarina Wiegman waving like a mad woman from the middle of the bus as someone shouts 'Sarina for Prime Minister!' And, of course, the great 140-cap veteran, Lucy Bronze. 'Oh my God, she's a bloody legend. She's insane,' says Sam Bottomley from Herne Bay, who is next to me in the crowd with her twin daughters Mia and Paige. 'All these male footballers rolling around on the floor with a bent back finger and she's played the whole tournament with a broken tibia. That's Proper England – resilience and teamwork – and what better influence for young girls?' And boys, Sam! All of us, for that matter. Which, presumably, is why so many people came today. Some, from hundreds of miles away, arriving in the wee small hours to grab a front row seat. And every hour since, thousands and thousands more, in a great wave of flags, football strips and excitement sweeping across London's Royal parks. Mums and daughters, like Amelia and Kara, from Stevenage. 'As soon as they won, I got my daughter to ring my boss and ask for the day off!' says Amelia. 'We had to be here.' Grannies – 'we've never really had a women's sports team to support before' says Helen, 68, from Winslow. Toddlers with smeary face paint. A dog called Winifred who's watched every match at home in Brighton and, today, is dressed top to paw in football finery. Silas, from Camden, who has an Abyssinian cat called Kanga snuggled around his neck wrapped in an England flag. There is great excitement when Princess Beatrice and her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi are spotted in the front of the crowds with their new daughter Athena and Edoardo's son Wolfie – though I somehow doubt they were putting up camping chairs at dawn. Oh yes, and a chap called Tom from Cirencester, here in a sports jacket with his three young sons and nine-week-old baby girl – 'I wanted her to witness a piece of history.' Not just because the Lionesses have won again. And on penalties. But how they did it. How they help each other. Share the glory. The lack of fuss. Which, according to Graham, a heavily tattooed Millwall fan from Bexley with the biggest flag here, is what it's all about. 'I used to follow the men's, but it's a bit boring now. 'The women are more exciting because there's no theatrics, they just get on with it.' In fact, as we waited and waited for the parade, I don't think I've ever been in such a friendly, warm, lovely crowd. Some just want to say thank you. Others to pay homage. All seem happy with even the slightest glimpse of our new champions. Which is presumably why no one makes a fuss when the Lionesses finally reach the big stage in front of Buckingham Palace, and it turns out that the sound quality is disappointingly poor. So rubbish that most of us can't hear when Hannah Hampton tells the crowds never to give up on a dream if it makes you happy. Or when 19-year-old student Michelle tells her team how much she loves them all. But we can see the great Lucy Bronze looking daunting with a red and white Euro Champions scarf tied round her head and full skiing sunglasses. 'Oh my God!' says a lady near me on crutches. 'I've got the same leg break as her; I've been on crutches for 12 weeks and she's played an entire football tournament!' And there's coach Sarina dancing when her favourite singer, Burna Boy, comes on as a surprise and the whole of the Mall erupts into a giant disco. And, oddly, we can suddenly all hear very loud and clear when Chloe Kelly laughs off the idea of feeling any stress – 'Pressure! What pressure?' – and sends TV presenter Alex Scott into a stricture when, in all the excitement, she tells us how very proud she is to be English and that it's all 'so f***ing special'. But, again, nobody cares. Because she's right – it is. It really is. And she did apologise very nicely afterwards.
