The prince started supporting Villa during his school years.

Despite going to school in Berkshire, Prince William chose a team further away as he did not want to follow the crowd.

“A long time ago I started playing football at school. I was looking for clubs. All my friends at school were Man United or Chelsea fans and I didn’t want to follow the usual teams.” he told the BBC in 2015.

“I wanted a team that was more in the middle of the table and could give me more emotional rollercoaster moments.”

William was born 26 days after Villa’s European Cup final against Bayern Munich on May 26, 1982.

He has previously spoken of the joy he gets from following a club through the ups and downs that Villa has experienced.

“Aston Villa has always had a great history. “I have friends of mine who support Aston Villa and one of the first FA Cup games I went to was Bolton against Aston Villa in 2000. Unfortunately, Villa lost (in the final) to Chelsea,” he added.

“It was fantastic, I sat with all the fans with my red hat on, and I sat with all the Brummie fans and had a great time

“It was the atmosphere, the camaraderie and I really felt there was something I could connect with.”

Prince William attended the 2019 play-off final against Derby County and was seated next to former Villa striker John Carew.

“He supports us, but not only now,” Emery told CBS after the win over Bayern.

“Two years ago, when we were not in Europe, he came to our training round, watched the session and had lunch with us. He is very humble with us. We really appreciate his visits to us.”