Prince William attends Aston Villa’s Champions League match against AS Monaco on Jan. 21.Photo:Best Image / BACKGRID
Best Image / BACKGRID
Prince Williamfulfilled a long held dream on Jan. 21 when he watched his favorite soccer team play abroad.
The Prince of Wales, 42, went to Monaco on the south coast of France on Tuesday to watch his beloved Aston Villa play in the UEFA Champions League against AS Monaco. His solo appearance at the game comes after his wifeKate Middletonannounced that she isin “remission"from cancer on Jan. 14.
William has told friends that it was his wish to support the team as they take a rare turn in the top European Cup competition.
Despite looking animated as he and his friends cheered the team on, the trio were left disappointed as Villa lost the match 1-0.
Prince William watching Aston Villa vs. AS Monaco.Aston Villa/Aston Villa FC via Getty
Aston Villa/Aston Villa FC via Getty
There’s a symmetry to William’s love of Aston Villa and this year: He was born in 1982, when Villa coincidentally last won the European Cup. This year, as they compete in it again for the first time in decades, he has been to see them a couple of times in the competition.
The prince has previously revealed how his birthdate and Villa’s success was part of the reason friends suggested he support the team.
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“I was born in ‘82 and the friends of mine were desperately trying to get me to support Villa as you can imagine — which it worked,” William said on theThat Peter Crouch Podcastin 2020.
“They told me about the history of the club and how it mattered — and they won the European Cup [in 82]. It kind of went from there. I don’t know what it was. I felt a real connection with the club, more than I felt watching some of the other ones.”
William also shared that Villa appealed to him as the team to back because he didn’t want to support a team that was an obvious choice. “I desperately didn’t want to support Man U or Chelsea like everyone else at school. I liked the idea that Villa had a real history,” he told host Peter Crouch.
Nicolas van Cutsem, Thomas van Straubenzee and Prince William at the soccer match.Aston Villa/Aston Villa FC via Getty
Supporting the team in Europe came after Williamsurprised Villa fans at a local pubin Birmingham (the Premier League team’s home city) on Jan. 15 ahead of their 1-0 win against Everton.
The prince organized a meetup of fans to coincide with his time in Birmingham — where he attended the College of Paramedics’ inaugural Emergency and Critical Care Conference — and bought them a round of drinks at Wetherspoons before the game.
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He travelled Monaco on Tuesday after completing avisit to one of his homelessness charities, Centrepoint, on Tuesday morning. He has been patron of Centrepoint — which he followed his late motherPrincess Dianain supporting — for 20 years.
William’s next royal outing will see him visit Liverpool on Jan. 23 and spend a day in the city in England’s northwest.
source: people.com
