Prince William ‘WON’T attend Russia World Cup’… just hours after Boris Johnson urged him not to go
PRINCE William will NOT attend the World Cup in Russia this summer, a Palace source has claimed.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson urged him yesterday to boycott the showpiece event after the suspected assassination attempt against ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal.
A member of the Royal Family would usually be expected to attend the tournament, but they and ministers faced pressure from Boris to snub this summer’s event.
FA president Prince William and Prince Harry have supported England at previous tournaments - but William is not thought to have been going to Russia after skipping Brazil in 2014.
In a huge gaffe, the Foreign Secretary hinted we might not even take our team to compete - but embarrassed aides were forced to quickly confirm that he didn't mean it.
He promised yesterday to bring Russia "to heel" and to punish the "malign" state if it had anything to do with the attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter - who were left fighting for their lives last night.
Colonel Sergei Skripal, 66, and a woman - believed to be his daughter - are both critically ill in a Wiltshire hospital along with the British cop who found them.
Mr Johnson told MPs yesterday it was "very difficult to imagine that UK representation to [the World Cup] could go ahead in the normal way".
After the panic, sources close to the Foreign Secretary confirmed to The Sun that he was not referring to pulling out the whole team - but meant that Britain might not send the same officials and dignitaries as it usually would to such events.
Concerned MP Tony Perkins said pulling out would cause "massive consequences" for thousands of fans who are set to travel to the games - and called on him to explain himself to MPs.
But Speaker John Bercow said that he was NOT making a policy statement and was merely "ruminating" on the situation.
The World Cup is set to take place later this summer - and 31 countries are confirmed to join hosts Russia.
England is in a group with Tunisia, Panama and Belgium.
The FA have refused to comment on Mr Johnson's remarks.
What we know so far:
- Ex-KGB spy Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia Skripal, 33, are in a critical condition in hospital after being exposed to an 'unknown substance'
- Police are investigating a CCTV image which is believed to show the former double agent before the incident in Salisbury, Wilts
- Zizzi's and a nearby pub have been cordoned off by cops
- Skripal and Yulia were found slumped on a bench while one of them had vomited nearby
- Two police officers were taken to hospital suffering itchy eyes, wheezing and rashes
- At least 12 others suffered symptoms including vomiting
- Reports say Skripal feared for his life after the death of his wife and son in car crashes
- Skripal was jailed for 13 years in 2006 after being found guilty of sharing Russian state secrets to MI6
- In 2010 he was swapped for glamour spy Anna Chapman as part of a deal between Russia and the US
- The incident echoes of the killing of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko
- Home Secretary Amber Rudd will chair a meeting of the Government's emergency committee Cobra on Wednesday morning to discuss the on-going investigation into the incident in Salisbury, No 10 said.
Mr Johnson also told the Commons during an urgent statement about the suspected poisoning: "No attempt to take innocent life on UK soil will go either unsanctioned or unpunished."
He promised to take "whatever measures deemed necessary" to protect lives, values and freedom in Britain.
In a stormy address Mr Johnson said that if evidence points to Vladimir Putin being behind the attack, the government will "respond robustly".
And he confirmed that there were "similarities" with the 2006 killing of former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko who was poisoned with radioactive polonium in London.
A No10 spokesperson said that the matter was not discussed at Cabinet this morning, but that the Prime Minister is being kept informed of updates.
But the Russian Foreign Ministry described Mr Johnson's comments as "preposterous".
And the Russian Embassy in the UK accused the media of "swiftly launching a new phase of the anti-Russian campaign ongoing in the UK" which they said was causing "serious concern".
A spokesperson said: "We believe that the British authorities and law enforcement bodies should step in immediately and inform the Embassy and the British society about the actual circumstances of this incident, so as to end the demonisation of Russia."
Who is Sergei Skripal?
- Sergei Skripal was born on June 23 1951.
- He was arrested in December 2004 after Russia accused him of passing on identifties of its spies onto the UK's Secret Intelligence Service MI6.
- It claimed Skripal had been paid the $100,000 (£72,270) for the information which he had been supplying since in 1990s.
- At the time he was serving in the Russian Ground Forces.
- Skripal was said to have passed secrets to MI6 through a James Bond-style fake rock hidden in Moscow park.
- Russian secret services exposed the rock in 2006, revealing how agents transmitted data to it via a hidden handheld device.
- He was found guilty of 'high treason in the form of espinoage' and sentenced to 13 years in prison.
- However he was released by Moscow in 2010 following a 'spy swap' deal made between the US and Russia.
- Among the trade-off was glamour spy Anna Chapman.
- He was nicknamed 'the spy with the Louis Vuitton bag' after pictures showed him carrying a bag at an airport en route to meeting his handlers.
- Skripal was then flown to the UK and granted refuge. After settling in Salisbury in a £350,000 semi-detatched house his wife Liudmila who died in 2012.
Emergency crews in protective suits decontaminated the scene where Skripal, who came to Britain in a spy swap involving flame-haired double agent Anna Chapman, was found.
The use of CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear) suits fuelled speculation the substance could have been radioactive or an airborne poison such as anthrax.
Officials are urging anyone in the area who feels ill to contact 111.