If Prince William had any anxiety at all about the impending birth of his first child with Kate Middleton, he didn’t show it this past weekend. After competing against (and losing to) his younger brother, Prince Harry, in a charity polo match on Saturday, July 13, the Duke of Cambridge, 31, teamed up with his sibling, 28, for yet another match on Sunday, July 14 — the annual Jerudong Trophy match at the Cirencester Polo Club.
Arriving at the club together, the princes did a few warm-up stretches before taking their positions on the field alongside their teammates, who included Malaysia’s Crown Prince Ismail Ibrahim of Johor and polo player Satnam Dhillon. They lost — the Cirencester Blacks beat them 7 to 5.5 — but an onlooker told Us Weekly the game was a “mostly jovial one.”
“Harry and William stayed close together,” the eyewitness said, adding that the dad-to-be looked “cheery,” even after losing. “Both were very casual in their demeanor.”
Another onlooker noted that William was very nurturing of his horse once the match was over. “He was stroking the horse’s head and talking to him,” the spectator explained.
After the match, both princes stuck around for a bit for the presentation of the Jerudong Trophy and to greet representatives from Centrepoint, a U.K. charity that aids homeless young people. (Prince William has been a patron of Centrepoint since 2005.)
“Harry posed for a picture with the group of teens, and William followed his brother’s lead,” an eyewitness told Us. “They stayed speaking with people for about 20 minutes before their security guard directed them out the back of the clubhouse and into a waiting vehicle.”
Danielle Alexandra, a Centrepoint trustee and a friend to the Duke of Cambridge, told Us she “got a very big, wonderful, sweaty hug” from the prince before he left. “He’s very excited and very happy to have the chance to be a dad,” she shared. “He’s anticipating it with tremendous excitement. He’s one of the most loving people you will ever meet, so he’s the perfect guy to be a dad.”
She noted, too, that he has a natural way with young people and is “very committed” to the youths helped by Centrepoint. “He really enjoys listening to them and what they’re all about,” she told Us. “The bottom line is, he’s very interested and very excited about the kids themselves, and he’s very personal with them.”
“I am so excited for him — he’s glowing,” she gushed. “He’s glowing about this wonderful time in his life, and I think we should all be glowing with him. He’s one of the nicest people you will ever meet.”
The Duke is currently on a short break from his Royal Air Force duties. A palace spokesman told Us he’s not due back for search and rescue duties in North Wales for “a few days,” which means he has a little time to spend with his wife. He planned to join her at her parents’ place in Bucklebury, Berkshire, where she arrived on July 12.
“It was just too warm in Nott Cott,” an insider told Us, referring to the couple’s Nottingham Cottage residency at Kensington Palace, which lacks air conditioning. “She decided to spend the weekend with mum and dad. Much more comfortable.”
Additional reporting by Libby Galvin
