Prince William spotted at…Wetherspoons?! Aston Villa fans get royal surprise as Prince of Wales joins them for pre-match pint ahead of Everton clash

The Prince of Wales, 42, made an unexpected stop at the pub in New Street Station while preparing to return to London. The informal gathering followed his attendance at the College of Paramedics’ inaugural emergency and critical care conference in Birmingham earlier that day. William arranged to meet with Aston Villa supporters at the pub, where he treated them to a round of drinks. The occasion provided fans with a rare chance to interact with the future King, who has long been an advocate of the club.

Steve Jones, a lifelong Villa fan of 35 years, was among those invited to meet Prince William. He shared his excitement about the royal's involvement: "We were contacted by the club saying Prince William wanted to meet a delegation of Villa fans as he was in Birmingham and wanted to keep in the loop with everything going on at Villa.

“He was fantastic. I was quite amazed about how engaged he was with the club, his interest. He’s not a fairweather fan. He really loves the club with a passion. We spoke about the club, the transfers, the pending Champions League trip to Monaco, and all things Aston Villa.”

Prince William also revealed that his eldest son, Prince George, 11, shares his allegiance to Aston Villa. However, he hinted that he doesn’t want all his children to support the same team, perhaps encouraging a bit of diversity in their sporting interests.

Jones added: "It was 95 per cent chat about Villa as that's our shared interest but a bit about his family. Young George is a Villa fan but he didn't want all three [children] to be Villa fans. He was massively interested and seemed like a really genuine guy and all he wanted to do was talk about Villa. He said he was hopeful about beating Everton tonight and would be watching but was wary about new manager syndrome, or rather old manager syndrome."

Prince William’s love for Aston Villa stems from his school days, a time when he deliberately chose a team that wasn’t considered mainstream. In a 2015 interview with the BBC, he explained: "A long time ago at school I got into football big time. I was looking around for clubs. All my friends at school were either Man 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."

Villa are back in action in the Premier League on Wednesday when they face Everton at Goodison Park.