In a country with one of the world’s greatest professional leagues, where a World Cup can keep an audience of more than nine million people up all night to watch an England game – Prince William’s love of football provides him with an immediate connection to huge swathes of the public who share his love of the sport. And his decision to support Aston Villa as a teenager helps too.
“Avoiding say Manchester United or Liverpool, huge global brands, and Arsenal or Chelsea, did make him more relatable,” said Gregg Evans, writer for The Athletic and co-author of Waking the Giant, Inside the Rebirth of Aston Villa.
Sharing the suffering and elation of football fans matters in a world where public perceptions of royalty have been tested in recent months. A love of football connects William to the country he will one day reign over in a way polo would not.
“I don’t think a 13 or 14-year-old William thought, I know, when I make my pitch to be King in 30 or 40 years I’ll prove that I’m a man of the people by going to support Aston Villa,” said Mat Kendrick from the Claret and Blue podcast.
“The interesting thing will be to see if when he is King, he can still show his claret and blue allegiances as clearly as he does now.
“I’d like to think that getting the top job won’t change how he behaves and responds to people. We’re obviously going to have bragging rights then when the King is a Villa fan!”
And when it comes to bragging rights, there would be none greater for Prince William than watching England win the World Cup for the first time in 60 years as a future King, a patron of the Football Association and a royally devoted football fan.
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