Prince William experiences a whirlwind of emotions as he watches Aston Villa win Europa League

The Villans ended their 30-year wait for a trophy by beating Freiburg 3-0 in the final. And the Prince experienced a rollercoaster of emotions as he saw his team win their first piece of European silverware in his lifetime. There were wild celebrations from William and his friends as Villa opened the scoring through Youri Tielemans. His face was a picture of delight just minutes later as Emi Buendia doubled the score.

Villa added a third goal in the second half to seal victory and by full-time William was overcome with emotion. He wiped away tears as the enormity of the occasion got to him. Fortunately, he was able to compose himself and posed for a photo holding the trophy alongside Villa manager Unai Emery. The football-mad royal also proclaimed he was “Villa ‘Til I Die” in a post on social media after the win. “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 wrote. “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. Up the Villa, Villa ‘Til I Die. W.” Prince William was allowed in the locker room ahead of kick-off and captain John McGinn joked that he should pay for a free bar to celebrate. “Hopefully Prince William is paying for the free bar. He is a classy guy, he was in the dressing room before,” he said. “He’s just a normal guy and it’s great to have his support. “He can have a couple of drinks with us and maybe get his credit card out tonight!” It is the end of a long trophy wait for Prince William, who painfully had to watch Villa lose in four consecutive cup finals, with the most recent a 2-1 loss to Manchester City at Wembley in the 2020 Carabao Cup final.