Luke Littler offers Prince William World Darts Championship tickets at Alexandra Palace after receiving MBE
Darts sensation Luke Littler has offered to provide Prince William with tickets to visit Alexandra Palace later this year.
The pair had spoken about darts when Littler, 19, was awarded the MBE for services to sport at Windsor Castle last week.
During their remarks, the Prince of Wales said the World Championships in North London were “like a nice night out”.
The Warrington-born teenager described his visit to the royal residence as a “surreal experience”.
“Prince William said he was following the journey and we were just talking about how the darts went off,” Littler told the Press Association.
“He even said it looked like a nice night himself, so maybe we’ll see Prince William at Ally Pally this year!
“I didn’t invite him, but if he needs some tickets, I’m sure myself or the PDC will arrange some.
“When I got back to Windsor Castle it was like…’How am I here? Why am I here?’ It was like. It was a crazy experience. And then you have to think about what I do for sports.
“Of course these things don’t usually happen to people this young, but what I did for my sport was incredible and the response was amazing.”
Littler returns to action in Thursday night’s Premier League finals and plans to let his “darts do the talking” if he faces any interference from the O2 fans.
The world number one, nicknamed ‘Nuke’, was booed at Alexandra Palace in December and has also been booed at Liverpool, Brighton and Sheffield as well as European competitions.
His closest rival, Luke Humphries, believes the feud stems from “everyone wanting to take down someone who’s doing well”, and Litter is preparing his response if this happens again.
“The only way to deal with it is to keep your head down and win, and that’s what I did,” Littler said.
“I kept winning, kept winning and now on Thursday I really have to give up. If it comes at certain times on stage then the darts have to do the talking.”
Littler and Humphries have met in the last two Premier League finals, with the world number one losing the title to ‘Cool Hand’ last year.
The rivals are expected to clash again and Littler will be content to negotiate with semi-final opponent Gerwyn Price and reach the competition’s showpiece for the third year running.
“I will be happy if I can make three finals in a row, but I will try to beat Gezzy first,” he said.
“Some people want to see me against Luke in the final, some might say it’s a bit boring now – Luke vs. Luke.
“But if we’re both winning, if we’re both going to the finals, first and second, nobody can do anything about it.
“We’ve split most of the majors over the last year or two, but let’s see what happens on Thursday.”
:: Xbox ambassador Luke Littler was at Virgin Media Gamepad where he surprised and delighted a fan by playing a game of darts and the brand new Forza Horizon 6.
