Big night, Wills? Future King appears to have lost his voice as he’s back on royal duties in Newquay… less than 24 hours after celebrating Villa’s Turkish triumph

Prince William appeared to have lost his voice as he celebrated his beloved Aston Villa’s historic victory as he arrived in Cornwall for a series of events.

The Prince of Wales was in a jovial mood as he toured Nansledan in Newquay, a day after watching his team cruise to victory in the Europa League final in Istanbul.

Wearing a blue shirt and maroon tie in honor of the team he has supported since childhood, he was 40 minutes late and clearly still reveling in his achievements, joking that he had lost his voice and saying: ‘I try not to talk about it all day!’ he said.

Someone in the crowd shook the prince’s hand and said: ‘I thought I’d ask, did you get any sleep last night?’

William laughed and replied: ‘You can hear it in my voice. ‘On best behaviour!’

On arrival, William was presented with flowers from Years 2 and 4 of Nansledan Primary School and younger children from Natural Learning Nursery School.

He apologized for his broken voice and told them: ‘I’m losing my voice.’

The conversation quickly moved to their favorite football team. Told that two of the children were Arsenal fans, he remarked on their success in winning the league and their upcoming Champions League final game, saying: ‘You’ve got a big match next week.’

The prince spent most of the evening supporting his team in Istanbul

William shouted with joy as the final whistle blew and then followed up with a passionate rendition of Sweet Caroline.

When he heard that a little girl was a Chelsea supporter, he said of Princess Charlotte: ‘My daughter loves Chelsea.’

Then a man in the crowd asked her to send a message to her partner who couldn’t join him.

William happily accepted this and looked at the camera and said ‘Rebecca, happy birthday, what’s your birthday?’ he said. When he said he was 38, he joked: ‘That’s quite a lot of candles.’

When it turned out the phone wasn’t recording, William playfully tried again.

The heir to the throne also posed for selfies, shook hands and petted his 15-week-old cocker spaniel named Professor Lupin, saying: ‘Hi, you’re so sweet! I love dogs, ours are Orla and Otto.

‘Is he behaving at home? Does he chew everything?

“Our folks are chewing on slippers,” William continued. ‘Anything left on the ground is gone.’

William was in Cornwall to see plans for Nansledan’s Market Street development, one of the first new high streets of its kind built in over a century.

If there were any cobwebs left over from the night before, they didn’t stop the Prince from getting stuck in the clay hand print.

William contributed handprints to some of the artworks in Nansledan’s new Market Street project

‘Protection’ demonstration held at Garth Ellis facility developed to combat homelessness

When completed in 2028, it will support a vibrant local economy and community by providing commercial space for local artisans and businesses.

After the tour, William walked down the hill to see Nansledan’s first Build-to-Rent homes and stopped to chat to Nick and Jess Dunston, who moved there from Truro, and their young daughter Rosie.

Carpenter Nick and local practice manager Jess are among the first residents of the three-bedroom homes.

‘What made you come here when you were looking for a place?’ asked William.

Speaking of having family nearby and the open spaces, Jess told him: ‘We love it here. There’s a really nice upbringing here for Rosie. We feel really lucky.’

‘I must say that when we signed up [with the Duchy of Cornwall scheme] “Nick, we weren’t expecting to meet you in person,” he joked.

The prince later joined locals, including six-year-old Iggy, to leave handprints in clay to create a cast of artworks for Nansledan’s new Market Street development.

‘Put more weight on this, Iggy,’ said the Prince, and added, ‘Go through the table!’ Move your fingers.’

William was given a tour of Nansledan’s first Build-to-Rent homes developed by the Duchy of Cornwall

The prince took time to talk to some of the house’s residents, including the four-legged

The conversation briefly turned to Aston Villa and someone commented on goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez. “He played with his broken finger last night,” William said.

‘No need to break your fingers, Iggy.’

William later repeated the handprints on a separate piece of clay with officials from the development project, saying, “It smells like Play Doh.”

Nansledan is an ambitious and sustainable urban extension of Newquay developed by the Duchy of Cornwall.

Market Street represents a major milestone in the continued growth of the suburb, which already includes around 900 homes, a primary school, offices, a community center and more than 40 local businesses, alongside extensive green spaces including wildflower meadows, parkland, orchards, wetlands, ponds, community allotments, playgrounds and a skate park.

William also visited the housing development to see the final stages of the £3m project, including 24 low-carbon homes being built to tackle homelessness.

The first residents will move into the Garth Ellis area, named after the founder of homelessness charity St Petrocs, this summer.

The project is a collaboration between the Royal Foundation’s Homewards program St Petrocs and the Duke of Cornwall Charitable Trust to provide housing solutions for homeless people in Cornwall.

The duchy is working on the project with the long-term aim of helping people move from temporary accommodation in Nansledan to permanent homes.

The project, which Kensington Palace described as the Duchy’s “first innovative housing project to help address homelessness”, will provide residents with a range of “comprehensive services”, including mental health support, counselling, training and employment opportunities.

Touring one of the houses under construction, William met 28-year-old Max Hedges, a former client of St Petrocs from 2023 to 2025, who was closely involved with the Duchy on the development of new houses in the area, including attending Duchy meetings in the early stages of the Nansledan scheme.

Max, who lives with his mother while he and his girlfriend save money to buy a house, has just started a fundraising business in Bristol.

William recalled meeting Max when he was a customer at St Petrocs. ‘How’s life now?’ he asked her. ‘This is amazing,’ he told her. ‘I have such a good friendship group, I work, I’m part of the community. ‘I still get it wrong, it’s part of life.’

William replied: ‘We all misunderstand, we all misunderstand. ‘What were the building blocks like, did it progress steadily step by step, did the extensive support from St Petrocs give you renewed confidence?’

‘To a very large extent,’ he told her. ‘Before you came here I thought that even though this was physically a house of bricks and mortar, it was the beginning of a new journey in someone’s life, I just think it’s amazing what’s been done. ‘It’s just a building of hope for people who need a roof, and I think that’s great.’

To finish the visit, William met with some of the builders working on the site and helped them with ‘hedging’ – laying stones around a bed of plants on the site from which hedges would grow.

His visit comes as it was revealed that William plans to invest £500 million in tackling the housing and nature crises by selling a fifth of the Duchy of Cornwall over the next decade.

It will consolidate its assets around five geographical ‘heartlands’, focusing on Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly, Dartmoor, the Bath area and Kennington in south London, where it sees it as being able to make the greatest social and environmental impact.

Tomorrow William will visit the Isles of Scilly to visit more community and housing projects on the Duchy’s estate and to open a new hospital.