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In a fervent display of loyalty, Prince William hailed Aston Villa’s triumph by exclaiming, “Villa til I die,” as he basked in the glory of their historic Europa League victory on Wednesday night, May 20, 2026.
The Prince of Wales, a dedicated fan, was front and center at Istanbul’s Tupras Stadium, witnessing his cherished team clinch a 3-0 win over Freiburg. This victory marked Aston Villa’s first European trophy since the year of William’s birth. Throughout the match, the 44-year-old royal was a picture of passion and elation, enthusiastically cheering for every goal, sharing heartfelt embraces with friends, and even shedding a tear when the team finally lifted the coveted trophy.
Prince William at the Europa Cup final
Following the electrifying match, William took to social media platform X to express his joy: “Amazing night!! Huge congratulations to all the players, team, staff, and everyone connected to the club! 44 years since the last taste of European silverware!” He didn’t forget to mention Boubacar Kamara, a pivotal player who has been sidelined due to injury but contributed significantly to the team’s journey. “Special shout out to Boubacar Kamara who has been out injured but is such an integral part of our team and helped lay the foundations of this success,” he added.
And afterwards, William wrote on X: “Amazing night!! Huge congratulations to all the players, team,staff and everyone connected to the club! 44 years since the last taste of European silverware!
“Special shout out to Boubacar Kamara who has been out injured but is such an integral part of our team and helped lay the foundations of this success.”
He concluded the messages with the acronyms UTV and VTID – which stand for Up the Villa and Villa Til I Die respectively – along with a strength emoji, a red heart, and the letter W to indicate it was a personal post.
William had visited the players in the dressing room before the match and captain John McGinn joked it was time for him to “get his credit card out” to buy the players a few drinks after the game.
He said: “Hopefully Prince William is paying for the free bar. He’s a classy guy. He was in the dressing room before the game. He’s a massive Villa fan, he was never going to miss it. He’s just a normal guy, it’s great to have his support. Hopefully, he can have a couple of drinks with us and maybe get his credit card out.”
Ahead of the match centre-back Ezri Konsa praised William for his “unreal support” of the side, but admitted it can often be hard for the team to process the magnitude of his dressing room visits.
He said: “Ever since I joined, he has shown unreal support, coming into the changing room and showing us the utmost respect.
“I don’t know much about his football knowledge, but he has called me a ‘Rolls-Royce’ once though. I’ll take that. That got stuck in my head and it’s nice.
“It’s weird because on game day, when he comes in, you focus on the game and you’re in the moment, and you don’t realise how big it is that he is coming in to greet everyone and shake his hand.
“Sometimes you get caught up in the moment, and you go home and think, ‘flipping hell, I just shook his hand, and he knows my name and everything’. Having his support is brilliant, not just for the club but for the players as well.
“Some of the players didn’t know who he was beforehand, as they are from different countries, so for them to learn about him and know who he is, it is big.”
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