Kate Middleton Struggles With Rugby Rules, Says John Inverdale

John Inverdale is in hot water after implying that Kate Middleton struggles with understanding rugby rules.

On Saturday, March 18, Middleton and Prince William watched the rugby match between Wales and France. When the camera panned to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, BBC presenter Inverdale made shameful comments about Middleton, Express reported. “I don’t know exactly how au fait with the rules Kate is, but I assume she must have been struggling a bit in the last 20 minutes,” said Inverdale. “And she wasn’t alone.”

Viewers did not like Inverdale’s comments and turned to social media to fire back. “#Inverdale, unreal sexism again,” Sarah Catriona wrote on Twitter. “As an alumna of the public school Marlborough, the #DuchessofCambridge would surely know the rules of rugby #inverdale,” another user wrote to defend Middleton.

READ: Kate Middleton not pleased with Prince William’s behavior during a ski trip

Middleton and William are sports enthusiasts. In fact, the duchess was spotted playing rugby with schoolchildren in Paris earlier that day, Independent reported.

Inverdale later caught wind of the controversy he caused and blamed his remarks on hayfever. He issued an apology the following day. Meanwhile, the network also expressed in a statement that they were sorry about what happened. “We accept this was insensitive and for that we apologise,” BBC said.

Prior to Inverdale’s controversial comment about Middleton, he was involved in a similar controversy after saying a sexist remark about French tennis champion Marion Bartoli. In 2013, when Bartoli won Wimbledon, the broadcaster said something that many deemed as chauvinistic.

“I just wonder if her dad, because he has obviously been the most influential person in her life, did say to her when she was 12, 13, 14, maybe, ‘Listen, you’re never going to be, you know, a looker. You’re never going to be somebody like a Sharapova, you’re never going to be 5 ft 11, you’re never going to be somebody with long legs, so you have to compensate for that,” said Inverdale.

What do you think of Inverdale’s comments about Middleton? Share your thoughts below.