• Stoney: ‘I find it incredible that someone would find that sexist’ • ‘It was just facts, and to be called a hero is amazing’ • England players attended breakfast reception with Prince William

England’s Casey Stoney has dismissed the row over a tweet from the official England FA Twitter account, rejecting suggestions it was sexist.

The tweet, quickly deleted after an online backlash, welcomed the players home by saying: “Our Lionesses go back to being mothers, partners and daughters today, but they have taken on another title – heroes.”

The message was widely criticised on social media for appearing to portray the players as something other than simply athletes, but the former England captain, speaking at a breakfast reception with Prince William at Kensington Palace, said: “I find it incredible that someone would find that sexist.

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“When I came back to this country was I a mum? Yes. Was I a daughter? Yes. To me it was black and white, just facts, and to be called a hero is amazing.”

Meetings with the Prince, who had last spoken with the England team as they prepared for the tournament at St George’s Park, tend to be relaxed affairs, and his enthusiasm for the women’s game is appreciated by those in the camp.

He told the players: “You showed the men how to do it”, and discussed how the public had been behind them while they were away. “You really gave it your all, and everybody here noticed it – social media was alive with it ... What you created as a team, it’s fantastic. You’re only going to get bigger and better.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Prince William mingles with England’s women’s football team

William joked about his son, Prince George, telling the team: “I was going to bring George this morning”, but the toddler was busy with his toy plane.

The England midfielder Karen Carney said: “He watched all the games and was right behind us. He just told us that he was immensely proud of what we’d achieved and that we have done the whole country proud with our passion and determination. It’s amazing to be here.”

There has been little let-up for Mark Sampson’s team since they arrived back in England early on Monday morning. The team travelled to London on Wednesday ahead of their breakfast engagement, which was followed by a training session with local schoolchildren on the Royal Household football pitch as part of the “We Can Play” initiative to encourage young girls to play football.

“A lot of us are still jetlegged to be honest – I barely know what day it is,” said Carney. “I think it’s all just hitting home now, coming here and also seeing people’s reactions. We were quite sheltered out in Canada, especially given the time difference. To see people tweeting pictures of our names on the back of their shirts, and screensavers of the team on their phones, really says a lot.

“It’s nice to hear that we have been an inspiration to people – that was always our objective but I don’t know if we thought we could achieve it to this extent.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest England’s Karen Bardsley (left) takes a selfie in front of Prince William at Kensington Palace.

Some of Carney’s team-mates were back in training with their clubs on Thursday, with a view to their participation in Women’s Super League fixtures this Sunday. Carney will join up with Birmingham City and assess the likelihood of her involvement against Manchester City.

“A few of us are still struggling with ongoing things so we’ll see how it goes,” she said. “The team as a whole decided that we wanted to go ahead with the summer league so we’ll get on with it and I’m sure we will be fine. Hopefully the excitement people have will carry into the weekend; it’ll be interesting to see if it has an impact on the attendances.”

Carney had been troubled by injury before the tournament but made decisive contributions for Sampson’s heavily-rotated team, scoring in the narrow group stage wins against Mexico and Colombia. Completing 120 minutes in the third-place match against Germany capped an impressive personal and collective achievement after what could have been an enervating semi-final defeat to Japan.

“The whole journey was a whirlwind, full of highs and lows,” said Carney. “But to end in the manner we did, beating Germany with a penalty and winning the bronze medal, made it worth everything.

“I think what happened to us against Japan brought us all together. We deserved to go the whole way but it wasn’t to be and maybe we were destined to end with a great result against the Germans like that. We didn’t want to let it slip – we couldn’t finish fourth and come away with nothing. That thought galvanised us and we kicked on.”

After the trip to Kensington Palace, the players visited Downing Street to meet David Cameron.