Prince William Shocks Soccer Fans at a Local Pub — and Buys a Round!

Mar. 15, 2025

Prince William (center) at a Wetherspoons pub in Birmingham, England on Jan. 15, 2025.Photo:Daniel Jones/PA Images via Getty

Daniel Jones/PA Images via Getty

Prince Williamjoined fellow Aston Villa fans for a surprise pub meetup, raising a glass after wrapping up his royal engagement.

On Jan. 15, the Prince of Wales was announced as the new patron of the College of Paramedics and stepped out in Birmingham, England, for its inaugural Emergency and Critical Care Conference. It marked his first royal duty of the year, and came the day after his wifeKate Middletonannounced that she isin remissionfrom cancer.

The Prince of Wales, 42, organized a meetup of Aston Villa fans to coincide with his time in Birmingham (the Premier League team’s home city) and bought them a round of drinks at Wetherspoons before the soccer team’s game later that day.

Wetherspoon’s is a U.K. chain with several outposts in Birmingham, and the meetup happened at the Birmingham New Street train station location.

Prince William (second left) at a Wetherspoons pub in Birmingham, England on Jan. 15, 2025.Daniel Jones/PA Images via Getty

“Prince William surprised pub-goers when he popped into a Wetherspoons at the train station in Birmingham today. He arranged a meet-up with a group of@AVFCOfficialregulars while he was in the city to speak at the College of Paramedics conference and bought them a round,” Rebecca English of theDaily Mailwrote onX.

“You’ve got to be British, I think, to understand the cultural significance of a future king in the ‘spoons!” she added in another message.

TheDaily Mailreported that Prince William had a pint of Bulmers cider at the pub before taking the train back to London, and he seemed to be at ease in the company of his fellow Aston Villa fans in a video that English shared to X, where he posed for photos and even smiled for a selfie.

Steve Jones, a Villa supporter of 35 years, said that the royal encounter came about after Aston Villa reached out mentioning that Prince William wanted to meet local fans during his trip to Birmingham.

Prince William at a Wetherspoons pub in Birmingham, England on Jan. 15, 2025.Daniel Jones/PA Images via Getty

Jones, 56, relayed that William was up totally up speed on the team’s latest updates, and even mentioned which one of his kids is part of the fandom! The Prince and Princess of Wales are parents toPrince George, 11,Princess Charlotte, 9, andPrince Louis, 6, and William has brought George to several games through the years.

“We spoke about the club, the transfers, the pending Champions League trip to Monaco, and all things Aston Villa. He asked many questions — he’s got a good level of interest,” Jones said.

Prince William, patron of the College of Paramedics, at the inaugural Emergency and Critical Care Conference in Birmingham on Jan. 15, 2025.Alamy

Alamy

“It was 95% 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 to be Villa fans,” he relayed, referring to Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

Jones said the prince’s passion made a splash and that he relayed he’d be watching Villa’s game later that day.

“He was massively interested and seemed a really genuine guy and all he wanted to do is talk about Villa,” the fan said of William.

“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,” he added, an apparent allusion to Everton’s leadership changes last week.

Aston Villa is set to play Everton in an away game at Goodison Park at 7:30 p.m., local time, on Jan. 15, and William rallied for Aston Villa in his speech at the College of Paramedics' Emergency and Critical Care Conference.

Prince William, patron of the College of Paradmeics, at the inaugural Emergency and Critical Care Conference in Birmingham on Jan. 15, 2025.Aaron Chown -WPA Pool/Getty

Aaron Chown -WPA Pool/Getty

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“It’s great to be back in Birmingham, and for any fellow Villa fans with us today – I look forward to celebrating our win over Everton later,” Prince William began, which won laughs from the audience in video English shared toX.

The Prince of Wales is a loyal soccer follower and vocal fan of Aston Villa — evenlosing his voiceat a game in the fall! The royal previously explained that hecame to bea Villa fan because he wanted to root for a team with an underdog feel.

Prince William (right) at the Aston Villa vs. FC Bayern match at Villa Park on Oct. 2, 2024.James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images

James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images

“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 or Chelsea fans and I didn’t want to follow the run-of-the-mill teams,” Prince William said of the backstory,The Telegraphreported in 2018. “I wanted to have a team that was more mid-table that could give me more emotional rollercoaster moments.”

King Charles' son is also the president of the Football Association, the game’s governing body in England, andbrought Prince Georgeto a Villa game last April.

Prince William and Prince George at the Aston Villa vs. Lille OSC match at Villa Park on April 11, 2024.Marc Atkins/Getty

Marc Atkins/Getty

A close source told PEOPLE that following Aston Villa gave Prince William a lift as both his wife Princess Kate and father King Charles were undergoing treatment for cancer. (Princess Kate said in September 2024 that shecompleted chemotherapy, and palace sources said in December that the King’s treatment iscontinuing into this year).

source: people.com