Prince William Shared a Rare Personal Tweet for the Women's World Cup

He even signed it: "W."

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(Image credit: Julian Finney)

The Royal Family, quite understandably, don't tend to do a lot of a personal tweeting, perhaps because an accidental like while vigorously swiping could provoke an international incident. But Prince William deviated from that rule Wednesday, to show his support for England's soccer team in the FIFA Women's World Cup. (He is, after all, president of the Football Association.)

The Lionesses, as England's team are known, beat Norway in the quarter finals, becoming the first team to make it through to the semi-finals — and William, a renowned soccer fan, was pretty delighted by the news. "What a performance @Lionesses, a superb display!" he tweeted, in the most archetypal royal language imaginable. The whole country is behind you going into Tuesday’s semi-final, bring it on!"

England's soccer team aren't short of celebrity supporters: David Beckham took his 7-year-old daughter Harper to see the quarter finals at Le Havre's Stade Océane, in France, as E! reported. A dad like Beckham comes with perks: Harper got to meet the whole team beforehand.

David posted a photo of the moment on Instagram, writing, "So lucky to get to see the girls before tonight’s big game... As a player I know exactly what it means to play in these competitions and to have the support from home which means so much..I just want to say how very proud we all are of every single player, they are doing amazingly well and the whole country is behind them !!! As you can see Harper was so excited to meet the team & is so excited for the game...."

He also posted a cute photo on his story of star forward Nikita Parris and Harper; naturally, mini Beckham sported her very own England shirt. Harper, by the way, is an aspiring soccer player herself: on The Graham Norton Show last year, David said, "Harper is playing every Sunday and loves it." A future Lioness, perhaps?

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Emily Dixon
Morning Editor

Emily Dixon is a British journalist who’s contributed to CNN, Teen Vogue, Time, Glamour, The Guardian, Wonderland, The Big Roundtable, Bust, and more, on everything from mental health to fashion to political activism to feminist zine collectives. She’s also a committed Beyoncé, Kacey Musgraves, and Tracee Ellis Ross fan, an enthusiastic but terrible ballet dancer, and a proud Geordie lass.