Prince William spends hours trawling online forums where he posts under fake name

Prince William has admitted he spends 'ages' on internet forums, where he posts using a secret name

The Prince of Wales has opened up in a new interview about his love of football and his favourite team, Aston Villa, explaining his unusual match-day rituals. The heir to the throne has been a long-time fan of the Midlands club and was there to support them earlier this week as they reached the Champions League quarter-finals with victory over Club Brugge.

Before the game, he said his interest in the club grew when Villa were relegated to the Championship in 2016, a few years after finishing sixth in the Premier League. "The rise of the smartphone" made him even more invested as it became possible to track and discuss a team’s progress all the time.

And he told The Sun: "I’d grown up looking at Ceefax on the television or the back pages of newspapers and if you didn’t have those to hand you were a bit out of the loop." He added: "I like going on the forums, I can be on there for ages. I listen to what other fans have to say and give them my opinions. I get quite into it, definitely. It’s important to have that debate."

Elsewhere in the interview, he also revealed that his children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis have Villa shirts, among others, but he is not forcing them to support his team, he said. He explained: "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. I’m trying to spread the love a little bit. They do have Villa shirts, and ask to come to games with me, but they have other shirts as well. There’s been a bit of courting going on by other managers too."

William also told the publication he moves his children around the house to bring good luck when games are not going Villa’s way and said: "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."

He also said he fell in love with the Premier League club after being taken to matches by family friends when he was younger. During the interview at Villa’s training ground, William, 42, explained: "With the camaraderie among the fans and the chanting and the singing, I just felt like I belonged there."

The prince also revealed one of his hardest challenges as FA president was consoling players after the Euro 2024 final defeat. "That was the hardest changing room atmosphere I’ve ever had to walk into," he admitted.

But a World Cup win next year is "definitely possible", he said, praising new England manager Thomas Tuchel as "exactly the right person" for the job.