Family to England's triumphant squad had misgivings about how popular their Euro 2025 parade would be, but they need not have worried as 65,000 fans joined their celebrations in London - as well as members of the Royal Family.
The Lionesses held an open-top bus parade along The Mall after becoming back-to-back European champions with a dramatic win over Spain on Sunday. Fans lined the route before gathering around a stage in front of the Queen Victoria Memorial outside Buckingham Palace, where some of the players were interviewed by former Lioness Alex Scott.
"I've been crying all the way down The Mall," said captain Leah Williamson.
"This is unbelievable, probably one of the best things we've been a part of." The 28-year-old Arsenal defender added: "We're making history every single step.
“Stay with us, this story is not done yet." Chloe Kelly, who scored England's winning goal at 2022 and the decisive penalty in Sunday's shootout, said: "Pressure, what pressure?"
The 27-year-old Arsenal forward described how special the team's support has been at home and at the Euros in Switzerland. She added: "It’s so good to stand side by side with every single one of these girls throughout the whole tournament, and the staff that you don't see behind the scenes.
“It's incredible." Princess Beatrice of York attended the parade and there was a surprise for England coach Sarina Wiegman as her favourite singer Burna Boy joined the squad on stage.
The Dutchwoman then sang and danced along as the Nigerian sang his hit ‘For My Hand’. The English Football Association (FA) said that at least 65,000 people attended the parade.
FA chief executive Mark Bullingham said: "It was funny, the players kept asking us 'do you think people will really come?'
"And we were like 'yeah, they definitely will come'. We'd seen crowds yesterday coming to meet them at the airport so we were really confident, but the British public are just incredible and really did us proud today."
The England squad flew back to Southend airport on Monday before attending a reception at Downing Street. As their celebrations continued on The Mall, Heather Small took to the stage to sing Proud - a tournament anthem for the Lionesses, who played it in their dressing room before and after games in Switzerland.
"I've never had a day like this, never ever," Chelsea defender Niamh Charles, who grew up on the Wirral Peninsula in Merseyside, said.
"If I think back to the younger me that came to visit Buckingham Palace, I never would have thought that I would be stood here now. Me and my family did a weekend down here, we went around all of the sights, and we actually have pictures of me posing here, so it is crazy to think this is the reality of women's football now and what we have done."
Describing what she saw from the open-top bus, she added: "There were so many people, but I just wanted to look at individual faces. I saw older people, younger people, people from every different walk of life.
“They were just so happy to be there and it was so lovely to be able to share this with them." The Lionesses now hope to go one better at the 2027 World Cup, having lost to Spain in the 2023 final.
