Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, is a big fan of the sports team Aston Villa. He rubbed this off on his son, Prince George, the third in line to the throne, who was enthusiastically cheering on the team over the summer when the Cambridges went to watch the games.
But the royal recently visited the Aston Villa's rival club in Norwich as part of his royal duties to campaign for mental health in sports. While at the West Bromwich Albion homebase, Prince William surprisingly received special gifts from the team for his two younger kids, Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte.
According to the club's CEO, Mark Jenkins, the West Bromwich Albion team wanted the younger Cambridge royals to have the team shirts with their ages as the numbers. They conceded, however, that they cannot give Prince George the same gift knowing that the young prince was already a big fan of Aston Villa.
Jenkins told Prince William that they don't think they have any chance to sway Prince George to love their team. So, instead of giving him the team shirt, they gave the young royal a ball to play with.
According to Prince William, he was thinking of ways to be careful with what he says during his visit. It crossed his mind that he was in "enemy territory." Quite red-faced and apologetic after receiving the gifts for his children, Prince William apparently told the club, partly in jest, that he's at their turf as an Aston Villa fan, but he's hoping they can all move on from it.
According to Birmingham Live, Prince William has been a long-time Aston Villa supporter. When all the other football enthusiasts cheered on Manchester United or Chelsea in 2000, he picked Aston Villa because this team was "more mid-table that could give me more emotional rollercoaster moments."
Prince William attended several Aston Villa games even while he was still a bachelor. He didn't stop this tradition when he got married to Kate Middleton and had kids. At the 2015 FA Cup, when the team lost to Arsenal, Prince William witnessed history unfold on the Royal Box, and he gamely presented the trophy to the winning team.
Prince William's knowledge about his favorite team's history and records is uncontested. Former team manager Steve Bruce said that Prince William is impeccable when it comes to talking about his favorite team.
