Prince William tells couple of betting sponsorship concerns

The Prince of Wales is unhappy about gambling companies sponsoring football shirts, a pair of bereaved parents have said.

Liz and Charles Ritchie both received MBEs from Prince William at Windsor Castle for their work setting up the charity Gambling with Lives in 2018.

Their son Jack, 24, from Sheffield, took his own life in 2017 after becoming addicted to gambling.

Ms Ritchie said Wiliam told them he thought shirt deals would be banned.

"He said he didn't feel he could offer us congratulations wholeheartedly because the work that we did followed on from the death of our son," she said.

Mr Ritchie said William is "not happy" that Aston Villa, the club the prince supports, had signed a three-year shirt sponsorship deal with gambling platform BK8.

Premier League clubs collectively agreed in April to withdraw gambling sponsorship from the front of match shirts but the decision will only come into effect at the end of the 2025/26 season.

Speaking about William, Mr Ritchie said: "He made it very clear that he didn't approve of the sponsorship."

The couple have long argued that gambling-related suicide is directly linked to addictive betting products and the industry's "predatory" marketing practices.

They founded Gambling with Lives to support other gambling-bereaved families and raise awareness of gambling-related suicide.

Both were highly critical of the government's gambling white paper, published in April, which they said goes "nowhere near" far enough.

The long-awaited paper outlined a series of measures to make online gambling safer, including tougher affordability checks and limits on online slot machine stakes, but said most of the proposals would be subject to further consultation.

Mr Ritchie said: "It will be another two years before any of these changes are implemented. In that time, another 1,000 young people would have died."

Liz and Charles Ritchie dedicated their MBEs to those who have died from gambling addiction and their families.

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