Prince William ‘makes burner accounts’ to post on Aston Villa fan forums under an alias
Today at 12:14 PM
It is no secret Prince William is a passionate Aston Villa fan, but a shock revelation proved his support runs deeper than first thought.
The Prince of Wales was recently in Birmingham where he spoke at a College of Paramedics conference on the same day Villa were due to take on Everton as Goodison Park.
Luckily for the 42-year-old, he had an hour-and-a-half to kill between the end of his speaking engagement and his train home.
So he decided to organise a meet-up with a handful of Villa fans at a Wetherspoon’s pub in Birmingham to pass the time.
According to The Athletic, William opted for a Bulmers cider as he spoke about all things claret and blue for 45 minutes.
Villa fan Steve Jones, who was tasked with organising the meet-up at the pub, revealed his surprise at just how deep the Royal’s knowledge of the club ran.
“We brought up a couple of topics and he was very eloquent,” Jones told The Athletic.
“He didn’t have to look up to his aides, he knew everything. We spoke about the recent West Ham game and the changes (Unai) Emery made in the second half.
“He started speaking about double pivots and how Emery moved Youri Tielemans‘ position. We were like, ‘What?'”
However, Jones soon revealed how the 42-year-old, who is also the president of the Football Association (FA), is constantly up-to-date with all the happenings at Villa Park.
“He said he keeps abreast of Villa gossip because he is on all the fans’ forums,” Jones said.
“He goes under different names and he posts on there because that’s how he gets the feeling of what’s going on and what’s the opinion.”
With that revelation in mind, Villa forum users might think twice when replying to certain posts or comments knowing they could be disagreeing with the prince himself.
A penny for the prince’s thoughts on Ollie Watkins too as the England international’s goal helped Villa to a valuable 1-0 win over Everton in David Moyes‘ first game back at the club.
William has already been to Villa Park this season as he took in the club’s famous 1-0 win over Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
A wonder-strike from Jhon Duran sealed all three points for Emery’s side as they ensured a repeat of their 1982 European Cup final heroics over the same team.
William previously revealed his love for Villa came in 2000 when he went to watch the team beat Bolton in the FA Cup semi final at Wembley.
“It was fantastic, I sat with all the fans with my red beanie on, and I was sat with all the Brummie fans and had a great time,” the prince told BBC.
“It was the atmosphere, the camaraderie and I really felt there was something I could connect with.”
Emery has also paid tribute to the 42-year-old’s support of the club and reminded rival fans he hadn’t hopped on the bandwagon given Villa’s upward trajectory in recent years.
“Two years ago when we were not in Europe he was coming to our training ground, watching the session, having lunch with us,” Emery told CBS Sports.
“He’s very humble with us. We appreciate a lot his visits to us.”
