When you’re royal, you can get cool presents. So it was for Prince William, the soccer fan, when he opened a conference of 53 soccer nations today and received a match soccer ball as a trophy.

William, 30, is the royal president of the British Football Association and the FA is hosting the congress of the UEFA, celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. This year’s championship final, between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, kicks off Saturday at Wembley Stadium in London.

“My money is on Bayern Munich and two-nil,” William joked in his opening speech to the congress at the Grovesnor House Hotel.

The rules of soccer were drafted in a nearby pub 150 years ago, William said, which is appropriate given the English love of both pubs and football, as soccer is known everywhere but in the USA.

A century and a half later, soccer is a worldwide passion, the most popular team sport on the planet — bigger than American football, although you could never tell that in America, where “football” isn’t played with the feet the way soccer is.

In opening the congress, William sounded one of his regular themes, which is that soccer in particular and sport in general have positive benefits besides mere entertainment.

“Football can transform boys’ and girls’ lives, instilling fitness, team discipline, aspiration and fairness,” he said. “Events like tomorrow’s match are hugely important because they inspire through their excellence. But what really counts is the work you all do at a grassroots level — investing in facilities; training coaches; and addressing discrimination to make the game open to everyone.” Even royals.

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Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

When you’re royal, you can get cool presents. So it was for Prince William, the soccer fan, when he opened a conference of 53 soccer nations today and received a match soccer ball as a trophy.

William, 30, is the royal president of the British Football Association and the FA is hosting the congress of the UEFA, celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. This year’s championship final, between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, kicks off Saturday at Wembley Stadium in London.

“My money is on Bayern Munich and two-nil,” William joked in his opening speech to the congress at the Grovesnor House Hotel.

The rules of soccer were drafted in a nearby pub 150 years ago, William said, which is appropriate given the English love of both pubs and football, as soccer is known everywhere but in the USA.

A century and a half later, soccer is a worldwide passion, the most popular team sport on the planet — bigger than American football, although you could never tell that in America, where “football” isn’t played with the feet the way soccer is.

In opening the congress, William sounded one of his regular themes, which is that soccer in particular and sport in general have positive benefits besides mere entertainment.

“Football can transform boys’ and girls’ lives, instilling fitness, team discipline, aspiration and fairness,” he said. “Events like tomorrow’s match are hugely important because they inspire through their excellence. But what really counts is the work you all do at a grassroots level — investing in facilities; training coaches; and addressing discrimination to make the game open to everyone.” Even royals.

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Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

It’s garden-party time again at Buckingham Palace and Duchess Kate is one of the brightest flowers today in buttercup yellow.

As she was last year, the former Kate Middleton, now about seven months pregnant, was one of the clutch of royals at Queen Elizabeth II’s annual garden party on the back lawn of Buckingham Palace, where 8,000 guests sip about 270,000 cups of tea and 20,000 sandwiches and slices of cake are consumed, according to British media reports.

The duchess wore a yellow-and-white patterned coatdress by Emilia Wickstead, nude platform heels and a frothy fascinator-style topper in cream decorated with artfully arranged wide ribbons.

It was her first appearance for a public engagement in a couple of weeks; otherwise, she’s been spotted shopping at a home design center in London (she’s preparing two new homes) and dropping into a café on her own to sip a cappuccino and eat a banana muffin.

Today, she joined her father-in-law, Prince Charles, and stepmother-in-law, Camilla Duchess of Cornwall, for the party, but, as is custom, moved on her own into the crowd so that guests have a chance to mingle with at least one royal. Kate was quickly surrounded by fans.

The annual garden party is one of the highlights of the queen’s calendar, and invitations are greatly coveted. Although the tradition dates to Queen Victoria in the 19th century, her great-great-granddaughter has made an effort to extend invitations to a wider diversity of Brits during her reign. So it’s not just the posh and titled who get to sip tea and rub elbows with the royals.

And since she married Prince William in April 2011, the Duchess of Cambridge has been one of the stars of the event.

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Just back from a successful American tour with a strong military theme, Prince Harry joined brother Prince William today in continuing to focus their high-beam spotlight on wounded veterans in Britain.

It was a recently rare occasion when the royal brothers appeared in public together, and the contrast between them, especially in their hair, is more obvious: Blond William has lost more hair, ginger-haired Harry has not.

The young royals, both serving members of the British military, officially opened the first Help for Heroes Recovery Center, a charity program supported by the princes’ royal foundation. The charity is building, equipping and will run four centers to provide ongoing support for wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans.

William, 30, a helicopter flight lieutenant in the RAF, and Harry, 28, a captain in the British Army who flies attack helicopters, visited the first center, Tedworth House in Wiltshire outside London.

The recovery centers are designed to serve up to 50 soldiers, sailors and airmen and their families and visitors while the wounded are recovering until they’re ready to leave full-time medical care.

The princes toured the facility and met some of the wounded warriors and their families to learn about the challenges in rebuilding their lives.

Harry just spent a week in the USA, visiting four states and Washington, D.C., to promote Britain, support wounded warriors at the Warrior Games and to raise money for his charities. He raised an estimated $1 million playing polo for his African children’s charity, Sentebale. After his return, he paid a surprise visit Friday to the royal favorite, the Chelsea Flower Show, to see his Sentebale Garden being prepared there for opening this week.

Having served two tours in Afghanistan, Harry is expected to remain in the Army for the time being, while increasing his royal duties.

William is expected to give up his current job, flying search-and-rescue missions from an RAF base in Wales, when his first child is born in mid-July. He, too, is expected to take on more royal duties but he may also get another job in the British military closer to London.

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

And they were off! Prince Harry started the hand cycling race today at the Warrior Games in Colorado Springs, during the fourth day of his U.S. visit.

Harry, the warrior royal, is in Colorado this weekend for the Warrior Games, a Paralympics-style event for wounded service personnel. He’s cheering wounded-warrior athletes in general, and the British team in particular.

It was hot and sunny at the U.S. Air Force Training Academy in Colorado Springs, where the hand cycling race took place. Harry, dressed in a white polo shirt and dark jeans, greeted the competitors before the race, then blew the horn for the start.

It was another demonstration of Harry’s instinct to be fully engaged in whatever he’s doing, as he was Saturday for the start of the games. He joined the British team in practice sessions and competition in sitting volleyball, at one point falling flat on his face trying to reach a ball.

Yet it was for a good cause: “Thank you Prince Harry for changing people’s lives & making a difference. A True honor to have met u,” tweeted Misty May-Treanor, a Olympic gold medalist in beach volleyball, who played against him in sitting volleyball Saturday and presented him with a Union-Jack-emblazoned shirt.

The athletic 28-year-old third-in-line to the throne, who is a captain in the British Army, has been meeting with members of the U.K. team, chatting, joking and encouraging. The Associated Press reported that the athletes who met him found Harry easy to talk to, and that he was especially interested in their recovery and health care.

“He knows what it’s like out there,” said British Army Capt. Dave Henson, who lost both legs when an IED exploded in Afghanistan two years ago and is on the volleyball team. “(Harry’s) been on the ground and in the air.”

Harry, who served two tours in Afghanistan, also has worn his Army fatigues and desert boots, topped with his Union Jack T-shirt, as well as more formal suit and tie at various appearances since he arrived in the USA Friday evening.

He has attended a reception and a brunch, cheered the British team, and was one of the stars at the Opening Ceremony. Along with Olympic swimming champion Missy Franklin, he helped Navy Lt. Bradley Snyder, a swimmer in the competition who was blinded by an IED in Afghanistan, to light an Olympic-style cauldron to launch the games on Saturday.

And after the competitions, E! Online reported Harry went to a British-style pub Saturday evening for a private party with about 40 people.

More than 200 athletes, men and women, serving and veteran, are participating in the 2013 Warrior Games. There are five American teams (Army, Marine Corps, Navy/Coast Guard, Air Force, and Special Operations). The U.K. team is competing at the games for the second year.

The competitions cover seven sports: archery, cycling, shooting, sitting volleyball, swimming, track and field, and wheelchair basketball.

Next week, Harry heads to New Jersey to tour Hurricane Sandy damage, to New York to promote tourism to Britain, play baseball and attend a charity fundraising gala, and to Connecticut for a polo match to raise money for his African children’s charity.

Harry started off his visit in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, where he appeared on Capitol Hill, turned up for a surprise visit to a White House party for military families, and attended a glittery dinner at the British Embassy.

On Friday, he laid wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery and met with wounded veterans at the Walter Reed military medical center. Saturday night, he attended a reception in Denver where he met Franklin and sang Happy Birthday to the ning swimmer, who turned 18 on Friday.

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

And they were off! Prince Harry started the hand cycling race today at the Warrior Games in Colorado Springs, during the fourth day of his U.S. visit.

Harry, the warrior royal, is in Colorado this weekend for the Warrior Games, a Paralympics-style event for wounded service personnel. He’s cheering wounded-warrior athletes in general, and the British team in particular.

It was hot and sunny at the U.S. Air Force Training Academy in Colorado Springs, where the hand cycling race took place. Harry, dressed in a white polo shirt and dark jeans, greeted the competitors before the race, then blew the horn for the start.

It was another demonstration of Harry’s instinct to be fully engaged in whatever he’s doing, as he was Saturday for the start of the games. He joined the British team in practice sessions and competition in sitting volleyball, at one point falling flat on his face trying to reach a ball.

Yet it was for a good cause: “Thank you Prince Harry for changing people’s lives & making a difference. A True honor to have met u,” tweeted Misty May-Treanor, a Olympic gold medalist in beach volleyball, who played against him in sitting volleyball Saturday and presented him with a Union-Jack-emblazoned shirt.

The athletic 28-year-old third-in-line to the throne, who is a captain in the British Army, has been meeting with members of the U.K. team, chatting, joking and encouraging. The Associated Press reported that the athletes who met him found Harry easy to talk to, and that he was especially interested in their recovery and health care.

“He knows what it’s like out there,” said British Army Capt. Dave Henson, who lost both legs when an IED exploded in Afghanistan two years ago and is on the volleyball team. “(Harry’s) been on the ground and in the air.”

Harry, who served two tours in Afghanistan, also has worn his Army fatigues and desert boots, topped with his Union Jack T-shirt, as well as more formal suit and tie at various appearances since he arrived in the USA Friday evening.

He has attended a reception and a brunch, cheered the British team, and was one of the stars at the Opening Ceremony. Along with Olympic swimming champion Missy Franklin, he helped Navy Lt. Bradley Snyder, a swimmer in the competition who was blinded by an IED in Afghanistan, to light an Olympic-style cauldron to launch the games on Saturday.

And after the competitions, E! Online reported Harry went to a British-style pub Saturday evening for a private party with about 40 people.

More than 200 athletes, men and women, serving and veteran, are participating in the 2013 Warrior Games. There are five American teams (Army, Marine Corps, Navy/Coast Guard, Air Force, and Special Operations). The U.K. team is competing at the games for the second year.

The competitions cover seven sports: archery, cycling, shooting, sitting volleyball, swimming, track and field, and wheelchair basketball.

Next week, Harry heads to New Jersey to tour Hurricane Sandy damage, to New York to promote tourism to Britain, play baseball and attend a charity fundraising gala, and to Connecticut for a polo match to raise money for his African children’s charity.

Harry started off his visit in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, where he appeared on Capitol Hill, turned up for a surprise visit to a White House party for military families, and attended a glittery dinner at the British Embassy.

On Friday, he laid wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery and met with wounded veterans at the Walter Reed military medical center. Saturday night, he attended a reception in Denver where he met Franklin and sang Happy Birthday to the ning swimmer, who turned 18 on Friday.

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Now you can plan: Duchess Kate’s royal baby is due July 13, right in the midst of the celebration for the 60th anniversary of its great-grandmother queen’s coronation, the Daily Mail Sunday paper reports today.

How do they know? An anonymous “friend” of the expectant parents.

“A friend of the pair revealed: ‘Some of Kate and William’s closest pals were at a barbecue hosted by a family friend of the royals recently.They were all discussing the fact that Kate’s baby is due to be born on July 13. Everyone was very excited.’ “

Well, that sounds solid, doesn’t it? And anyway, everyone knows that babies rarely cooperate when it comes to timing.

But if it is true, the baby will be greeted by a jubilant nation already in full celebration for the four-day Coronation Festival, July 11-14, to mark when Queen Elizabeth II, 87, was crowned in 1953.

She became queen on her father’s death in February 1952, which was celebrated last year in a four-day Diamond Jubilee extravaganza. (Modern monarchs are typically crowned many months after they accede to the throne because it takes so long to organize a coronation, a religious and civic ceremony involving centuries of traditions.)

The Coronation Festival could rival the Jubilee party in hoopla, and a royal baby, a future monarch, would add to the exaltation.

But Prince William, 30, and the former Kate Middleton, 31, now the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, will likely miss the festivities no matter whether the baby has arrived or not.

The palace has never specified the baby’s due date; Kate herself mentioned to someone who asked that it would be around mid-July. The pregnancy itself was announced reluctantly late last year, but only because the duchess had to be hospitalized due to acute morning sickness.

Since then, her pregnancy — the first future monarch to be born since William’s birth in 1982 — has been followed avidly by the public and the media, with rampant speculation about when it was conceived and the state of her baby bump.

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

WASHINGTON — Ladies, grab your Union Jacks: Prince Harry, the world’s most eligible royal bachelor, is here.

Rarely has such squealing been heard in the corridors of the Capitol when the 28-year-old third-in-line to the British throne turned up for a visit Thursday.

And then more squealing when he appeared at a White House tea party for an unexpected drop-in with a crowd of stunned military moms and grandmoms.

And he topped it off with a glittering, sweltering, intimate gathering of American VIPs at a reception and dinner at the British Embassy. No signs of jet lag but he might feel it early Friday when he pays a somber visit to Arlington National Cemetery.

But Thursday was mostly about the festive, and never mind Washington’s typical humidity, although Harry was seen to wipe his brow at the reception this evening. Earlier, he was the one who caused women to feel faint and children to squeal.

“Well, surprise!” exclaimed first lady Michelle Obama, co-hosted by second lady Jill Biden at the White House party, as tables of women and kids clapped and cheered and Harry blushed and grinned beside her.

Harry arrived at Dulles International Airport Thursday afternoon on a commercial flight from London for the first day of a week-long visit to the USA to promote Britain, raise money for charity and cheer on wounded veterans.

He headed first to Capitol Hill to see an exhibit on clearing land mines (a cause dear to heart of his late mother, Princess Diana), accompanied by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. (His wife, Cindy McCain, is on the board of Halo Trust, the anti-land mine charity that organized the exhibit in a Senate office building, but she was unable to make it due to an injury. She was “heartbroken,” her husband said.)

While touring the exhibit, Harry was interested and animated and flashed many broad smiles. Every time the crowd outside of the rotunda caught a glimpse of him through the arches, cheers echoed in the space.

McCain was impressed. He told reporters later that Harry was charming, funny and genuinely interested in land mine clearance (he’s now the royal patron of the group). He asked in-depth questions, not just “cosmetic” ones, McCain said. He said he and Harry joked, in the time-honored way, about rivalries between the army and the navy (Harry is a British Army aviator and McCain was a naval aviator and POW during the Vietnam War), and compared notes about their respective aircraft (Harry flies the same Apache helicopters as McCain’s son, the senator said).

McCain was especially amused at the reaction of the crowd to Harry. “I’ve never seen in all my years here such a one-gendered crowd,” he joked.

Next, Harry made a surprise visit to the White House where he met Michelle Obama, who was co-hosting a Joining Forces event in honor of military mothers. As has Harry, the two women have made supporting military families a signature cause.

“Prince Harry wanted to be here to personally thank you for your service,” she told the moms and grandmoms at the party. He greeted as many as possible before leaving for the reception and dinner for 37 at the embassy, where he gave a speech on landmines.

The BBC’s Peter Hunt tweeted that Princess Diana would be “so proud” he’s taken up the patronage of the land mines charity, the Halo Trust.

On Friday, Harry will lay a wreath at Arlington, and visit wounded vets at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He’ll then fly to Colorado to cheer on veterans at the Warrior Games over the weekend in Colorado Springs. Next week he will tour Hurricane Sandy damage in New Jersey with Gov. Chris Christie, promote British tourism and attend a charity fundraiser in New York, and play in a polo match in Greenwich, Conn., to raise money for his African children’s charity.

Some parts of the Twitterverse were all aflutter awaiting Harry’s arrival Thursday.

“The definitive guide to stalking Prince Harry during his visit to America,” read one tweet. “My Prince Harry senses are tingling. Happy that the world’s most eligible bachelor is in the good ol’ US of A,” read another.

Harry’s visit comes as his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, 87, has finally started cutting back on her busy round of public appearances and turns to her heir, Prince Charles, and his sons, Harry and Prince William, 30, to take up more royal duties in her place.

It also comes in the wake of Harry’s hugely successful tour of the Caribbean and Latin America last year, and those embarrassing photos of him playing pool while nude in a Las Vegas hotel room that he and the rest of the Windsors would love to forget. Chances of a repeat on this trip? Zip.

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

WASHINGTON — He’s the new most-eligible royal bachelor in the world, and on Thursday he arrives here for a week-long visit in what is proving to be Prince Harry-friendly territory.

The third-in-line to the throne, 28, will make public engagements here and in New Jersey, New York, Colorado and Connecticut.

As in his boffo tour of the Caribbean and Latin America last year, he’ll be attending receptions, meeting and cheering wounded warriors, laying a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery, promoting British tourism and playing polo for his African charity at the Greenwich Polo Club.

Even Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, who’s not easily impressed, is eager to meet Harry, and he’ll get his chance when he escorts him on a tour of Hurricane Sandy damage next week.

“I don’t think Harry has the star power here that (brother Prince) Will and (his wife) Kate have, but I think the young women in the places he’s going to go are excited because he’s a handsome, charming guy,” says Bonnie Fuller, editor of HollywoodLife.com. “We’re prepared to cover him but don’t see it as big story — unless he runs into trouble, or kisses a girl or accidentally reveals the (royal) baby’s sex.”

What accounts for the Harry interest? British Ambassador Peter Westmacott observes the irony that Americans, having violently dismissed the monarchy in the 18th century, still retain affection for descendants such as Harry in the 21st century.

“He is a young prince who is doing a tremendous job representing the country and the monarchy,” Westmacott told a USA TODAY editorial-board meeting recently. “When he was last (in Washington), he gave an excellent speech in front of 700 people flawlessly and he engaged with utter sincerity with a bunch of wounded warriors. He relates in particular to those who have been in this theater of war, as he has, and come home damaged by it.”

And not just that. If you go strolling in London’s Green Park near the royal palaces, you might come upon Harry hanging out, playing with his dog, says royal biographer Chris Hutchins, author of Harry: The People’s Prince, just published in the U.K. You would never see his older brother.

“Harry differs enormously from his other royal relatives, particularly William, who’s shy and retiring and has to be because he’s going to be king and can’t get up to the same things Harry does,” says Hutchins.

Hutchins thinks Harry is popular in the USA because he’s the son of the beloved late Princess Diana, and because “he’s interesting and does interesting things.”

“He fights on the front lines and fights in nightclubs, he gets (drunk) like rest of us,” he says. “To be a member of that family and do normal things like play with your dog in Green Park is quite an achievement.”

Embracing little kids in Africa, he comes across as a good guy, says Fuller. “He doesn’t act like a privileged jerk or a snobby twit,” she says.

ven that goofy photos-of-Harry-nude-in-Las-Vegas scandal from last year turned out to be more blush-inducing than shameful for the young Prince Hal.

Do not expect a repeat of that on this trip: For one thing, Christie says he’ll be keeping him out of mischief. (And you don’t want to cross him.)

As the spare to the heir, Harry has always been more party-hearty than his brother, which has occasionally gotten him into trouble. “He makes mistakes, he never repeats one,” says Hutchins.

Another reason for Harry interest is the possibility that he’s actually available. Does he or does he not have a serious girlfriend? Harry himself has lamented to reporters that it’s hard out there for a prince.

We know he split from his longtime love, Zimbabwe-born London lawyer Chelsy Davy. He’s been seen lately with another blond beauty, English aristocrat Cressida Bonas, 24, but the British press report that she’s leery of the royal lifestyle and doesn’t want to get married so young.

William married a beautiful commoner, the former Kate Middleton, and that’s worked out spectacularly well, so no doubt there are attractive American girls thinking they could do the same with Harry. Since he’s not likely to become king (Will and Kate’s first baby, a future monarch, is due in July, when Harry will drop to fourth-in-line), the pressure to pick a wife deemed suitable by stuffy royal bureaucrats is less intense.

Is it likely he’ll hook up with a Yank? Maybe not, but girls can dream.

“I think people like the freshness, the energy, the next generation thing,” says Westmacott. “I think we are just very lucky that all generations of the monarchy attract a lot of affection here.”