When Jason and Travis Kelce dropped a special episode of their New Heights podcast on Friday, July 3, 2026, the internet expected wedding gossip. After all, the episode aired just hours before Travis was rumored to marry Taylor Swift at Madison Square Garden. Instead, listeners got a lesson in global sports diplomacy, British royal family dynamics, and a heavy dose of World Cup soccer talk from none other than Prince William.
It turns out the Prince of Wales is a massive football fan. His dad? Not so much.
When Travis asked if King Charles III passed down his love for the game, William didn't hold back. "Absolutely not. My father hates football," the Prince laughed. The future king went on to explain that his family lacks a long history with the sport, meaning his passion for the pitch came entirely from his school friends and his own obsession.
Breaking Down the World Cup Culture Shock
The conversation quickly shifted to the massive 2026 FIFA World Cup, happening right now across the US, Canada, and Mexico. As the president of the English Football Association (FA), William knows his way around the sport. He also knows that British fans traveling to America are in for a serious wake-up call.
Stadium size and tournament logistics came up fast. In England, a massive stadium like Wembley holds 90,000 people, but the cities and spaces are tightly packed. The sheer scale of American stadiums, paired with the intense travel distances between match host cities, is going to stun traditional UK supporters.
Then there is the culture hub of the English national team itself. For this tournament, England’s squad based its operations out of Kansas City. It's a fitting link, considering Travis plays tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs and Arrowhead Stadium is serving as a major World Cup host venue.
Brisket and Royal Notes
Travis, oozing Kansas City pride, naturally tried to sell the heir to the British throne on local food culture. He asked William if he had ever tried proper Kansas City barbecue.
"Probably not one of your barbecues, Travis. No," William said.
Travis kept pushing, asking if the Prince knew what a "burnt end" was. When William admitted he didn’t, Travis promised to get him some end pieces of a slow-smoked brisket. William smiled, looked a bit skeptical, and admitted, "It doesn't sound great, Travis."
Winning is the Only Benchmark
Jason Kelce didn't shy away from asking the tough questions about the English national team. He asked William straight up what would define a successful tournament run for England.
William didn't offer a diplomatic, soft answer. "I think winning it," he said flatly.
The Prince promised that if England makes it all the way to the World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, he will absolutely cross the Atlantic to watch them live. That sparked a funny scheduling conflict. Jason pointed out that Travis might be stuck in Chiefs training camp by the time the final rolls around.
William didn't miss a beat. "Tell me who I need to write to, Travis. We'll get you," the Prince joked, offering to write a personal note to Chiefs head coach Andy Reid to get Travis a day off from football camp.
Friends in High Places
This unexpected friendship didn’t happen out of nowhere. The Kelce brothers first met Prince William back in 2024, when William took Prince George and Princess Charlotte to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour concert in London. Travis and Jason admit they were completely terrified of meeting the royal family backstage, though Jason noted that meeting Princess Charlotte was the absolute highlight for him as a dad of girls.
For fans looking for clues about the massive Swift-Kelce wedding happening later in the day, the pre-recorded podcast didn't name-drop Taylor directly. But William's presence spoke volumes about how close this circle has become since they first crossed paths in London.
If you want to catch the full dynamic between royal protocol and NFL locker room humor, the episode is streaming now on all major podcast platforms. Keep an eye on the World Cup bracket to see if William actually has to write that note to Andy Reid later this month.
