Princess Kate had a blast while playing rugby in a wheelchair.
Kate, 41, — Patron of the Rugby Football League — visited the Allam Sport Centre to bring awareness to inclusivity in rugby on Thursday, October 5, in Hull, England. For the outing, she joined the England Wheelchair Rugby League in a wheelchair for a scrimmage with world-cup winners. She also played with Hull’s Learning Disability Rugby League.
Students from Hull FC’s Centre of Excellence also joined Kate to learn about different types of disability rugby leagues.
During the game she showed her enthusiasm by clapping for other players, throwing her hands in the air, laughing and tossing the ball around.
Kate sported a Rugby Football League polo and sweatpants for the outing. She paired the navy ensemble with loose curls, gold hoop earrings and natural makeup. While playing, she twisted her locks into a ponytail and tossed them over her shoulder.
This isn’t the first time Kate has connected with the Wheelchair Rugby League. In November 2022, England won the world title after they defeated France in a 28-24 match and to celebrate, she invited the players to a reception at the Hampton Court Palace in January.
At the time, she told the team she watched the match on TV with her children, Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5.
At the time England’s coach, Tom Coyd, gushed over the princess. “She’s got a fantastically warm aura … really engaging and really knowledgeable about the sport,” he told Town & Country. [‘She’s a great Patron for Rugby League and sport in the UK [and] She was saying how her children were totally captured by the whole program. It was brilliant telly because the game went right down to the wire.”
He also praised the Wheelchair Rugby League for being “totally inclusive.”
“You can play it whether you’re in a wheelchair, disabled or not disabled,” he told the magazine. “We’ve got four people in our squad who are not disabled at all but they’ve represented England in a wheelchair sport. And it’s the only sport in the world where they can do that.
Prince Harry was previously the Patron of the Rugby Football League and Rugby Football Union before stepping back from the royal family in 2020. Kate was announced as the new patron in February 2022.
At the time, Kensington Palace announced the news in a statement: “These new patronages, which have been given to The Duchess by Her Majesty The Queen, closely align with Her Royal Highness’ long standing passion for sport and the lifelong benefits it can provide, both within our communities and on an individual level.”
