Prince William and Princess Charlotte’s Godfather Take a Lads Trip to Monaco

This weekend Prince William went on a trip to Monaco to see his favorite soccer team, Birmingham’s Aston Villa, take on AS Monaco in a high-pressure match. On Tuesday, the prince attended a UEFA Champions League game at Stade Louis II alongside his two friends, Thomas van Straubenzee and Nicholas van Cutsem. Though Aston Villa’s season so far has been a dream come true for William—a supporter of the team since his teen years—he looked dejected when the game ended with a win for Monaco, 1–0.

Van Straubanzee and van Cutsem are longtime friends of William’s and were both guests at his 2011 wedding to Kate Middleton. Van Straubanzee is one of Princess Charlotte’s godparents, while van Cutsem is a godparent to Prince Louis. William was last spotted at an Aston Villa match with van Straubenzee and van Cutsem last October, when the group of lads made an outing to watch the team take on Bayern Munich at their home stadium. In April 2024, just weeks after Kate announced her cancer diagnosis, William took his son, Prince George, to watch a match at Villa Park.

As of Wednesday, Aston Villa is in contention for a top four Premier League finish and have won seven of the last 12 Champions League matches. It’s a strong showing for the team, and William is getting in on the enthusiasm. Last week, William made a stop at a Wetherspoons diner in Birmingham to meet with a group of Aston Villa supporters before they played Everton. According to the Daily Mail, William sipped a pint of Bulmers hard cider and bought a round of beers for the eight fans he spoke to. “He was fantastic. I was quite amazed about how engaged he was with the club, his interest. He’s not a fair weather fan. He really loves the club with a passion,” one fan told the tabloid. “Young George is a Villa fan but he didn’t want all three to be Villa fans.”

The prince’s love for the less universally known team first became public when he was spotted wearing a claret and blue Aston Villa hat back in 1998. William’s fondness for the team has its roots in a bit of historical coincidence. Aston Villa last won the Champions League title back in May 1982, about one month before William was born.

During a 2020 podcast appearance, William explained that when he was a teenager, his friends persuaded him to start supporting the team because of the coincidence. “They told me about the history of the club and how it mattered—and they won the European Cup [in ’82],” William said. “It kind of went from there. I don’t know what it was. I felt a real connection with the club, more than I felt watching some of the other ones.”

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