The Princess of Wales hosted England’s women’s rugby union team at Windsor Castle to celebrate their World Cup success in September.

England beat Canada 33-13 in front of 81,885 spectators at Twickenham to lift the trophy for a third time.

Catherine, a patron of the Rugby Football Union (RFU), met with officials and staff from the organisation as well as the 32-player squad.

She followed England during the home World Cup campaign and was in attendance when they beat Australia in Brighton in the pool stage.

Captain Zoe Stratford, two-time World Cup winner Marlie Packer and head coach John Mitchell, who were all named as OBE recipients in the New Year Honours, were among those at the royal reception.

Vice-captain Megan Jones, back row Sadia Kabeya and Sports Personality of the Year nominee Ellie Kildunne were also recognised with MBE awards in December.

Kildunne, who tattooed ‘2025’ on head coach Mitchell after their World Cup success, became synonymous with a cowboy hat during the competition and placed it on the head of Catherine after one of their victories.

Speaking at Windsor Castle, Kildunne said: “It was the first thing she said when she came over to our group, ‘Have you forgotten your cowboy hat this time?’ I said ‘it looks like you’re the one that has forgotten your cowboy hat’.

“When she came to watch the game - I didn’t really know the royal rules and whether you’re not allowed to put a hat on - she put it on and did a bit of a cowboy dance and it’s a special moment that she is now officially a cowboy, so I’ll have to tattoo her soon.”

The Red Roses were an hour late after their bus broke down and the bus driver then took a wrong turn, meaning the team missed out on a tour of Windsor Castle.

Following the royal reception the squad went to Downing Street to meet Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

Source: BBC 

--Agencies