Loyal and royal: How the future King became a football superfan
In the early hours of Monday morning, the Prince of Wales, like millions of other football fans, stayed in Windsor to watch England’s memorable victory over Mexico.
At Forest Lodge, his family’s home on the Windsor estate, he endured a delayed start, the intense atmosphere of the Azteca Stadium and a frustrating end to a second half in which 10-man England clung painfully to the lead.
As you would expect from the Football Association Boss, he also watched all the matches in England. He knows the structure of England well and is in direct contact with players and staff throughout the tournament; Many football players in England have Prince William’s personal phone number.
If England qualify for the World Cup final in New Jersey on July 19, Prince William will fly there as the FA’s official representative and the royal family’s most ardent football supporter.
No royal has shown more love for football than Prince William.
And his passion for the game is often seen in its purest form on the royal family’s social media platforms.
Royal offices can be tame affairs. The usual pattern is a reminder of the day’s meetings, a clip of a speech being made, sometimes a formal commentary on an event alongside the best photos of the day.
However, on May 20 this year, Prince William’s official accounts relaxed a bit.
“UTV! VTID,” they shouted alongside a red love heart and muscle arm emoji. For those who don’t know, this stands for “Above the Villa” and “Villa Until Death”. Not your typical royal social post.
These matches were published with the letter ‘W’, meaning they came from William himself and stood up moments after his beloved Aston Villa won the Europa League final with a convincing 3-0 victory over Freiburg, Germany. This was Aston Villa’s first European title in 44 years; They won the European Cup in 1982, the year Prince William was born.
He was in Istanbul for this year’s final with close friends including Ben Dawes, Thomas van Straubenzee and Edward van Cutsem, many of whom have shared his love of Aston Villa since his childhood. They have all been regulars at Villa games over the years. It was a family friend who persuaded him to support Aston Villa in his youth.
