The Prince of Wales can be superstitious when it comes to soccer matches. Prince William opened up in an interview with The Sun, published on March 13, about his superstition and how his kids, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, are involved when watching games at home.
“If I’m home alone with the children, I probably don’t have the pre-match pint but I do have a bit of superstition about where I sit when I’m watching them," the heir to the throne revealed. "If we’re not doing very well, I start moving round the house quite quickly and I put the children in different positions hoping that’s going to change our luck."
Prince William, who is patron of the Football Association, was spotted cheering and celebrating at a match between Aston Villa F.C. and Club Brugge KV at Villa Park on March 12.
While the future King is an avid Aston Villa fan, he doesn't expect his children to follow suit. "I’m kind of hoping they’ll all find their own teams in time," the dad of three said of his kids. "They don’t all have to be Villa fans."
"I’m trying not to be biased but obviously they see how passionate I am about it and they watch the matches with me. I’m trying to spread the love a little bit," the Prince continued. “They do have Villa shirts, and ask to come to games with me, but they have other shirts as well. There’s been a bit of courting going on by other managers too."
Recalling how his fandom began, William said, "I had some family friends who took me to my first Villa game when I was younger because they are big Villa fans. It was against Bolton and I sat in the stands with my Villa beanie hat on and I remember Paul Merson was playing for Villa at the time. With the camaraderie among the fans and the chanting and the singing, I just felt like I belonged there."
“I kept an eye on Villa from then on but didn’t get too involved initially. But Villa being relegated to the Championship in 2016 got me even more interested, strangely," the Prince added. “A few years earlier, we’d finished sixth under Martin O’Neill and now we weren’t even in the Premier League. I’m not certain why I became much more interested then but it might have been due to the rise of the smartphone."
William admitted that he feels "part of the Villa family." "This club does an awful lot — and I know lots of clubs do it too — but I particularly feel it with Villa in my life that I’m very included," the Prince of Wales shared. “The morals and the vision and the general atmosphere and the culture of the club really matters. For me, it’s always been very welcoming, very diverse, and all-encompassing.”