The Prince of Wales was in high spirits today as he visited the London Ambulance Service’s headquarters – amid rising pressure to speak out about Israeli supporters being banned from an Aston Villa match.
Prince William marked the organisation’s 60th anniversary by meeting paramedics and listening to their experiences working for the UK’s largest ambulance service.
Observers noted that the Prince was dressed in a claret shirt and blue tie in a possible nod to the colours of his beloved Villa as the political row continues to intensify.
It came after police banned supporters of Israeli football club Maccabi Tel Aviv from their Europa League match with Aston Villa on November 6, amid public safety fears.
Birmingham’s Safety Advisory Group – responsible for issuing safety certificates for every match at the stadium – decided that no away fans will be permitted to attend.
William, one of Villa’s most famous fans and patron of the Football Association, has been urged to speak out on the matter by fans. He has so far not made a statement.
However, the Prince is not expected to attend the match because he is already scheduled to attend the Earthshot Prize ceremony in Brazil on November 5.
Today, he visited the emergency operations control room at the Waterloo HQ and met the team answering 999 calls as well as dispatchers and the clinical hub team.
The future King, who became patron of the College of Paramedics earlier this year, has first–hand experience of being on the frontline through his roles as both an Air Ambulance and RAF Search and Rescue pilot.
Prince William praised first responders for speaking out against physical, verbal, and sexual assaults at work.
Paramedic Charlotte Miller was sexually assaulted during a call–out to Edgware Road when a man groped her and then exposed himself. He was later jailed for 9 months.
Bravely talking to William, alongside one of her colleagues, she told him: ‘I’m not going to bore you with all the details,’ to which he replied: ‘You could never bore me.
‘But does it play on your mind more now, when you go out on jobs?’
She told him: ‘It’s always going to be scary, but big up to my manager and my team, who were all brilliant in their support of me speaking out about it.’
William replied: ‘Well done you for speaking out. There’s always going to be people who just shut it down and don’t want to talk about it.’
The future King heard how there has been an 11 per cent rise in assaults on first responders at the LAS over the past year.
Each year, the LAS receives millions of emergency 999 calls and urgent 111 calls, resulting in providing face–to–face care to patients at the scene and treating 180,000 people over the phone.
It was officially formed in April 1965, and the call centre currently receives around 6,000 calls a day.
The Prince today was hosted Pauline Cranmer, the chief paramedic officer who was appointed to the role at LAS last May, when she became the UK’s first female chief paramedic.
William, a former air ambulance and RAF search and rescue pilot is a longstanding campaigner for more mental health support for first responders.
The Prince said it a ‘huge privilege’ to fly with the East Anglican Air Ambulance between 2015 and 2017 and that he had experiences on the job that he will ‘carry with me for the rest of my life’.
‘I have loved being part of a team of professional, talented people that save lives every day. My admiration for our country’s medical and emergency services community could not be any stronger.
After meeting Katy Crichton, head of health and wellbeing, he met other members of the team who share their experiences of working for LAS, including staff in the wellbeing team who offer mental health support and services to paramedics like Miss Miller.
He also visited the emergency operations control room where the team work round the clock to manage 999 calls into the ambulance service in London.
Dr. Fenella Wrigley, the deputy chief executive and chief medical officer, introduced William to a team of call handlers.
Two members of the control room then told the prince how they are regularly subjected to verbal abuse when taking calls.
‘We’re the first point of contact, so people often panic, they can be aggressive, it’s the norm to get lots of abuse,’ one of them told him.
”I don’t know if it should be though, should it?’ William replied. ‘There must be a way to deal with that abuse going forward.’
Before he departed William was shown to the garage area, where he viewed vehicles used by the ambulance team, including the world’s first, purpose–built all–electric ambulance and response cars, along with taking part in a training demonstration with specialist paramedics.
‘It feels like that role of [the paramedic] is getting bigger and bigger. It’s great to see it all. Keep up the good work.’
But it comes as football fans tagged the Prince and Princess of Wales’s handle on X today, asking if he would speak out on the controversial decision to stop away fans coming to the Villa match.
One person wrote on X: ‘Come on Prince William, you’re a Villa fan, you can’t remain quiet on this,’ while another said: ‘Prince William is an Aston Villa fan. Any comment from him?’
A third commented: ‘As patron of the FA and an Aston Villa fan, Prince William should step in here @KensingtonRoyal.’
The decision to ban Israeli supporters sparked outrage from politicians, led by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, and British Jewish leaders.
Sir Keir said on X: ‘This is the wrong decision. We will not tolerate anti–Semitism on our streets. The role of the police is to ensure all football fans can enjoy the game, without fear of violence or intimidation.’
It was also branded a ‘national disgrace’ by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and a ‘shameful decision’ by Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar.
Uefa, which runs the Europa League, urged UK authorities to make sure Maccabi Tel Aviv fans could attend the match.
West Midlands Police said they had classified the Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv fixture as high risk based on ‘current intelligence and previous incidents’.
It included ‘violent clashes and hate crime offences that occurred during the 2024 Uefa Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam’.
William, a regular visitor to Villa Park with his son Prince George, has been a long–time supporter of the club – which was perhaps a surprising choice for the royal.
William explained to the BBC in 2015: ‘A long time ago at school, I got into football, big time. I was looking around for a club to support, and all my friends at school were either Manchester United fans or Chelsea fans.’
Determined not to follow a ‘run–of–the–mill’ team, William opted to support Aston Villa.
In a recent interview with The Sun, the Prince revealed he had a ‘nice connection’ with the club as they lifted the European Cup in 1982 – ‘the year I was born’.
Ever since, the future King has been a regular, anonymous contributor to online discussion sites.
One of eight Villa supporters to meet the Prince at a Wetherspoon’s pub in Birmingham, Steve Jones revealed: ‘He said he keeps abreast of Villa gossip because he is on all the fans’ forums.
‘He goes under different names and he posts on there because that’s how he gets the feeling of what’s going on and what’s the opinion.’
George has been spotted at Aston Villa games with his father. Last year Mike Tindall, who is married to King Charles’s niece Zara, said: ‘George loves his football.’
He added: ‘He’s passionate about Aston Villa, too. Wherever he is, he’ll sit down and watch that game.’
