“SHE’S NOT FOLLOWING DAD THIS TIME…” — PRINCE WILLIAM JUST REVEALED THAT PRINCESS CHARLOTTE HAS TAKEN AFTER KATE MIDDLETON IN ONE SURPRISING WAY, DESPITE HIS PASSIONATE SPORTS OBSESSION. MK

Prince William’s children may go their own way when it comes to their sports loyalties.

The Prince of Wales, 43, celebrated his favorite soccer club, Aston Villa, winning the UEFA Europa League championship last week. He traveled to Istanbul for the final match against Freiburg on May 20 and partied with the team after their big victory.

The prince was back in the U.K. the following day, making an official solo visit to Newquay in his capacity as the Duke of Cornwall. He joked with well-wishers about having lost his voice after a late night of celebrating and even dressed in Aston Villa colors for the outing.

However, William did have to make an admission about whether his children — Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 11, and Prince Louis, 8 — were as excited about Aston Villa’s victory as he was.

When one young girl told him she was a Chelsea fan, Prince William confessed, “My daughter loves Chelsea.”

While William has been able to recruit Prince George to the Aston Villa fandom, Charlotte’s love for Chelsea is inspired by her mother, Kate Middleton, 44, who is said to be a longtime supporter of the team.

Kate’s Chelsea fandom came to light after a 2015 visit to a children’s charity, where she left a fellow 8-year-old fan raving about their encounter.

“We high-fived because she supports Chelsea, and I support Chelsea,” Rjay Bryan told Hello! at the time. “I love people who support Chelsea.”

Prince William has said in the past that one of the reasons he chose to support Aston Villa was because he was looking for a different fan experience than he could get from some of the more dominant U.K. clubs.

In a 2015 interview with the BBC’s Gary Lineker, the prince explained, “All my friends at school were either Man[chester] United fans or Chelsea fans, and I didn’t want to follow the run-of-the-mill teams. I wanted to have a team that was more mid-table that could give me more emotional rollercoaster moments.”

He continued, “Aston Villa’s always had a great history. I have got friends of mine who support Aston Villa and one of the first FA Cup games I went to was Bolton v Aston Villa back in 2000… 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. It was the atmosphere, the camaraderie and I really felt that there was something I could connect with.”

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With Prince William and Prince George rooting for Aston Villa while Princess Kate and Princess Charlotte back Chelsea, Prince Louis may end up being the family’s tiebreaker — or support another team.

“I’m kind of hoping they’ll all find their own teams in time,” William previously admitted. “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.”

One fandom the whole family can agree on, however, is the Swifties. During his recent appearance on the U.K. radio show Heart Breakfast, Prince William reiterated his kids’ love for Taylor Swift, requesting her song “Opalite” in their honor.

“Charlotte, my daughter, and Louis, to be fair, Charlotte, particularly, is obsessed by Taylor Swift. We went to see her on her Eras Tour, and it was amazing,” William shared.

The Prince of Wales celebrated his 42nd birthday in June 2024 by taking George and Charlotte to Swift’s Eras Tour stop at Wembley Stadium, where they watched the epic performance and met the pop star in one of the venue’s private boxes.

“We were watching from up there, which is quite a long way from where the actual action is happening but the atmosphere was so incredible, you could actually feel the floors shaking when they were all dancing, it was brilliant,” William said of the show.

As for whether he’ll score an invite to Swift’s upcoming wedding to NFL star Travis Kelce? Prince William laughed off the question from Heart Breakfast hosts Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden.

“No comment,” he said. “I’m hoping and I’m sure there might be an invitation around, but we’ll see.”