The prince began supporting Villa during his school years.

Although Prince William went to school in Berkshire, he chose a team further afield as he didn’t want to follow the crowd.

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

“I wanted to have 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 win against Bayern Munich on May 26, 1982.

He has previously spoken about the joy he derives from following a club with the ups and downs that Villa have experienced.

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

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

“It was the atmosphere, the camaraderie and I really felt like there was something there that I could relate to.”

Prince William attended the 2019 Championship play-off final win over Derby County and sat alongside former Villa striker John Carew.

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

“Two years ago, when we were away from Europe, he came to our training, watched the session and had lunch with us. He is very humble with us. We really appreciate his visits to us.”