Prince William threw his arms around fellow fans and joked he would go dancing in the fountains as he celebrated Aston Villa‘s ‘surreal’ win in the Europa League final.
The Prince, 43, was eager to revel in the occasion with other supporters, even beckoning some over to him after first celebrating with his own clan.
It seems his antics caught up with him when, hours later, he rocked up to royal duties in Cornwall wearing a pair of shades and making apologies for having lost his voice.
While soaking up the atmosphere after the game, two fans found themselves sharing a moment of jubilation with the Prince and listening to his verdict on their team’s performance.
Mat Kendrick and Dan Rolinson, hosts of the Claret & Blue Podcast for Villa supporters, couldn’t believe it when William called them over by name.
Footage of the encounter shows Mat and the Prince leaning over the balcony for a tight hug and slapping each other on the back, as William declared: ‘What an amazing night.’
When Mat pointed out the pitch invasion, William said: ‘I was tempted to go down there, but I thought, “Let’s let everyone else have their moment.” This is about the players, the team and the fans. This is really important.’
Dan jokingly asked William: ‘Are we going to go dancing in the fountains together tonight?’ The Prince gave a hearty laugh, before jibing to Mat: ‘You lead the way, mate. I’ll follow you.’
Prince William enthusiastically hugged a fellow Villa fan after the game had finished
He excitedly dissected the game with Mat Kendrick, who hosts the Claret & Blue podcast for Villa supporters
The Prince also made a cheeky joke about going to swim in the fountains later on in the evening
William spent the first few minutes after the final whistle with his ‘band of brothers’. Red-faced, teeth clenched, fists shaking, he threw himself into the air and bellowed to the heavens.
His crew included old pal Ben ‘Dawesey’ Dawes, Thomas van Straubenzee, 43, and Edward van Cutsem, 53, one of the sons of banker Hugh and his wife Emilie van Cutsem, who William grew up with.
Sandwiched between the van Cutsems, William joined the crowd in an enthusiastic rendition of Sweet Caroline, complete with fingers pointing to the sky.
In one particularly playful moment, Edward, alongside his son, 16-year-old Jake, was seen chatting and joking around with the future king before patting him cheerfully on the head.
The sense of familiarity is no surprise: Durham university graduate and former banker Edward is a godson of King Charles III and was a page boy at his wedding to Lady Diana.
The Prince paid the price for his wild night in Istanbul on Thursday, when he appeared to have lost his voice as he arrived for a series of engagements in Cornwall.
But he was in a buoyant mood nonetheless as he toured Nansledan – an extension to Newquay being developed by the Duchy of Cornwall, William’s private inherited estate.
Wearing a blue shirt and claret tie in honour of his childhood team the Prince was 40 minutes late and clearly still revelling in their success, joking about losing his voice and saying, ‘I’m trying not to talk about it all day!’
Prince William roared with delight during the match, as Villa put three past Freiburg
As the Prince of Wales laughed and cried while Aston Villa secured its first major trophy in 30 years, he was joined by his equally enthusiastic ‘band of brothers’ – some of whom he has known since childhood
William had waited his entire life to see Villa win a European trophy, with their last coming 26 days before his birth
Prince William holding the Europa league trophy alongside Aston Villa Manager Unai Emery
One local in the crowd shook the prince’s hand and said: ‘I just thought I’d ask, did you have any sleep last night?’
William laughed and replied: ‘You might hear it in my voice. On best behaviour!’
Further details of the podcasting pair’s encounter with William also emerged on Thursday, when they uploaded a debrief to their channel.
Mat said: ‘We were actually in better seats than Prince William, we were about ten rows ahead of him. And I needed to go for a wee, so it turned into a bit of a selfie hunt.
‘Bumped into Nassef Sawiris [co-owner of Aston Villa], so had a selfie with Big Nas, then saw [former footballer] Elmohamady, so had a selfie with Elmo.
‘Then, out of the corner of my eye, there was His Royal Highness himself.’
Mat described trying to position himself for a selfie with the Prince, but being told by his security detail that it wouldn’t be possible, because one would inevitable lead to many.
Dan recalls how, after the second goal, William was on his feet celebrating and pointed directly at the pair.
William rocked up to royal duties just hours later the following morning in a pair of shades and having lost his voice
On Thursday, William admitted that he was losing his voice after a night of celebrations
He made the trip to Cornwall for a day of engagements at a new site being developed by his Duchy of Cornwall
Then, after around 45 minutes of soaking in the atmosphere after the final whistle, they looked back to see the Prince still in the box, and gave him ‘another fist pump’.
The next part, the podcasters said, is when ‘things got strange’.
Mat said: ‘He summoned us, as if to say “Come and have a chat,” and he called us by name: “Mat, Dan!”
‘And we were scrambling over seats trying to get there.
‘So we went up to where he was in the director’s box.’
At that point, Dan pulled out his phone and asked whether he could record the video.
In extended version of the clip, Prince William admits he was ‘more nervous’ about the Nottingham Forest second leg than the final.
William posted on X after the final whistle: ‘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 finished the post ‘UTV! VTID’ using the abbreviated forms of ‘Up The Villa’ and ‘Villa Till I Die’.
William also got an invite to the afterparty to celebrate Villa’s 3-0 win over Freiburg to win the Europa League – their first European title since 1982, the year of the prince’s birth.
Star defender Victor Lindelöf’s wife Maja shared an image of her partying with William with the caption: ‘Going off the rails’. Her post also revealed that friends and family had danced and sang through the night in the team hotel with the famous trophy.
Earlier in the evening, William had paid a pre-match visit to the Villa dressing room, offering a final word of encouragement as Emery’s side prepared for the biggest game in a generation.
Dressed smartly in a black suit and blue shirt, he initially cut a tense figure while making his way through the tunnel ahead of kick-off. But there was little sign of nerves once the action began, as he cheered on a famous – and relatively straightforward – victory for the Birmingham club.
‘He’s a classy guy, he was in the dressing room before the game,’ Villa captain John McGinn said.
