Prince William has described England’s Euro 2020 defeat as “heartbreaking”, telling the team: “You can all hold your heads high, and be so proud of yourselves.”

“England, you’ve all come so far, but sadly this time it wasn’t our day.”

Fans were left devastated after the nation’s dreams of being crowned champions of Europe in front of a home crowd at Wembley Stadium were crushed in the final seconds on Sunday night.

Italy ended the Three Lions’ bid for glory with a 3-2 victory on penalties in the nation’s capital, in a game which had earlier seen ticketless fans breach security to get into the stadium.

William, who was at the match with Kate Middleton and their son Prince George, congratulated Italy on becoming European Champions. the players to “hold your heads high”.

In a tweet from the KensingtonRoyal account, signed W, William congratulated the Italian football team on their win.

He wrote: “Heartbreaking. Congratulations Azzurri on a great victory. England, you’ve all come so far, but sadly this time it wasn’t our day. You can all hold your heads high, and be so proud of yourselves - I know there’s more to come.”

England’s early lead, putting them 1-0 up just two minutes into the first half, was not enough to clinch victory.

A win would have been the men’s football team’s first major tournament win since the 1966 World Cup success, which also took place at Wembley.

Boris Johnson tweeted: “That was a heartbreaking result to end Euro2020 but Gareth Southgate and his England squad played like heroes.

“They have done the nation proud and deserve great credit.’’

Read More