Prince Harry clapped back after James Corden jokingly asked if he was 'too posh' to play football at school during a live Fox broadcast following the World Cup final. The exchange occurred on Fox's 'After Hours FIFA World Cup Show', where Harry was a guest alongside host James Corden.
Harry's Response to the Jibe
When Corden, known for his role in 'Gavin and Stacey', suggested the Prince might have been 'too posh' for football, Harry quickly defended himself. He explained that his prestigious school, Eton College—which charges £63,000 a year—offered a wide range of sports, including football. 'It was such a posh school that everything was an option. There was a football team,' Harry said.
A Tale of Two Teams
Harry revealed that he had played on his prep school's first team but experienced a drop in status upon moving to Eton. 'You know what, in prep school, I was on the first team. And then I went to the bigger school, and I ended up on the E team. Big A team, down to E team. So that didn't feel very good,' he admitted. The US audience found this humorous, with one person heard laughing heartily. Harry quipped, 'You found that really funny, didn't you?', prompting more laughter.
Eton's Football Heritage
Despite its reputation for traditional 'posh' sports like rugby and cricket, Eton has a strong football history. The 'Old Etonians', a team of alumni, won the FA Cup twice in the 19th century—beating Clapham Rovers in 1879 and Blackburn Rovers in 1882, both by 1-0. Their star player, Lord Arthur Kinnaird, became one of football's early superstars, winning the FA Cup five times. More recently, former Reading forward Basil Tuma, ex-Arsenal academy player Zac Shuaib, and Ipswich Town's Tudor Mendel-Idowu have attended Eton, which boasts over 40 football pitches.
