Prince William squeezed a surprise visit with his favorite soccer team into his busy workweek.
On Oct. 2, the Prince of Wales’ team posted photos of him meeting with “legends” from Aston Villa’s 1982 European Cup-winning squad. Prince William, 42, is known to root for the Premier League team and appeared at their Champions League match against Bayern Munich at Villa Park on Wednesday, the Associated Press said.
“42 years on, our 1982 European Cup winning legends are here on an historic night fo @AVFCOfficial,” Prince William’s team wrote on X on Oct. 2, posting two group photos featuring Prince William behind the scenes.
“Ready for the first game on home turf in this year’s European adventure… #UTV,” it continued.
The Prince and Princess of Wales/Instagram
Prince William’s team sent support with the hashtag “#UTV,” using an abbreviation for “Up the Villa,” a local slogan for “go team.”
Prince William and Kate Middleton’s team also shared one of the group photos to their Instagram page, reposting it from Aston Villa FC, which captioned the snap, “Royalty meets Aston Villa royalty.”
King Charles’ son is a loyal soccer follower and the president of the Football Association, the game’s governing body in England. He has attended several Aston Villa matches this year, and occasionally brought along his eldest son and fellow fan, Prince George, 11.
Marc Atkins/Getty
On Sept. 17, Prince William sent well-wishes straight to the squad ahead of the UEFA Champions League match against the Young Boys squad from Switzerland.
“The last time @AVFCOfficial won in the top European competition, it was the month before I was born. Let’s hope tonight is the first step towards another European adventure!” he wrote in part online at the time.
The Oct. 2 matchup between Aston Villa and FC Bayern Munich is highly anticipated, because Aston Villa defeated the German team 1-0 in the 1982 final of the European Cup, winning the cup for the first and only time in history, the Associated Press said.
The Prince of Wales made the surprise appearance at Villa Park for the big game after conducting investiture ceremonies at Windsor Castle. There, he and his wife Princess Kate had a special meeting with a young woman named Liz, 16, an aspiring photographer who is navigating cancer.
Prince William invited Liz to take pictures of the investiture as part of her “photography bucket list,” and Liz later wrote on social media that it was a pleasure to meet Prince William and Princess Kate.
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“Such a lovely, genuine and kind people, I’m over the moon that my family and I had this experience,” the teen wrote under the picture the palace shared of her hugging Princess Kate.
The Princess of Wales, 42, announced in a video message on Sept. 9 that she completed chemotherapy treatment and has undertaken a few meetings for work since.
Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace
