As a member of the Royal Family, Prince William must always remain neutral – except when it comes to football.
The heir to the throne is also a well-known Aston Villa supporter, having even brought his children Prince George and Princess Charlotte to cheer on the team.
And now, he’s revealed he even visits fan forums online with a secret name and has gametime superstitions involving his children.
He told The Sun: ‘If I’m home alone with the children, I probably don’t have the pre-match pint but I do have a bit of superstition about where I sit when I’m watching them.
‘If we’re not doing very well, I start moving round the house quite quickly and I put the children in different positions hoping that’s going to change our luck.’
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Like many other sports fans, Wills spends ‘ages’ on forums to share his opinions and see what other fans say.
‘I get quite into it, definitely. It’s important to have that debate,’ he said.
Even though William is a Villa supporter, he said he hopes his children will find their own teams to support, as he did.
‘I’m kind of hoping they’ll all find their own teams in time. They don’t all have to be Villa fans. I’m trying not to be biased but obviously they see how passionate I am about it and they watch the matches with me,’ he said.
Some are confused by Prince William’s allegiance given he has little or no connection to that part of the country.
The Prince of Wales cleared up the matter during an interview with the BBC in 2015: ‘A long time ago at school I got into football big time.
‘All my friends were Chelsea or Manchester United fans and I didn’t really want to follow the run of the mill team.
‘I wanted to have a team that was more mid-table that could give me more emotional rollercoaster moments.
‘Aston Villa’s always had a great history. I have got friends of mine who support Aston Villa and one of the first FA Cup games I went to was Bolton v Aston Villa back in 2000. Sadly, Villa went on to lose to Chelsea.
‘It was fantastic, I sat with all the fans with my red beanie on, and I was sat with all the Brummie fans and had a great time.
‘It was the atmosphere, the camaraderie and I really felt that there was something I could connect with.’
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