Exclusive:
Prince William has been spotted with eldest son Prince George on a sweet father-son outing with the pair watching their beloved Aston Villa win their Europa Conference League match against Lille at Villa Park
Cheering and clapping their beloved side on to victory, Prince William enjoyed a sweet father-son outing with his eldest son Prince George this week.
The pair were picked up by cameras during Aston Villa’s Europa Conference League win against Lille at Villa Park and appeared to be enjoying the thrilling result. It is the first time both the Prince of Wales and 10-year-old George have been seen in public since the Princess of Wales revealed she is undergoing treatment for cancer in an emotional video message. Since then, the family has been spending the Easter holiday together as they adjust to Kate’s diagnosis, which was discovered in post-operative tests after major abdominal surgery.
George sported an Aston Villa scarf and was seen chatting to his dad moments after Ollie Watkins’ opening goal for the club. And according to body language expert Judi James, the mirroring of gestures between the pair was as “strong as ever”. She told the Mirror: “It’s the normality of the body language here that is so happily reassuring. This is William and George doing what they have always done together, not as royals but as a dad and his son enjoying the football.
“Their mirroring is as strong as ever here, with their style of clapping and their poses and facial expressions looking twinned make George look like a ‘chip off the old block’. Mirroring is an intense trait with William and Kate, defining like-minded thinking and mutual respect and the same increasingly applies to William and his young son.
“William bends to discuss the play as though chatting to a friend, meaning his son is growing into the role of someone whose company he can enjoy. They clearly share the intensity signals of fans savouring an exciting game here although the cameras missed the actual celebrations when the ball first went into the back of the net.”
The pair’s football outing comes just days after William interrupted his Easter break to send a personal message on social media marking his first public words since the Princess of Wales revealed her cancer diagnosis. William is not expected to return to royal duties until his three children go back to school after the holidays.
The prince took to social media to react to the news that England Lioness Rachel Daly, has decided to retire from international football. The 32-year-old Aston Villa striker won 84 caps for England and was part of the European Championship-winning side in 2022, where she started every game in the tournament.
Rachel revealed her news on social media and on X, formerly Twitter, she shared a series of photos representing her country with the caption: “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” And William, the president of the Football Association, shared the post, writing: “Thank you for so many unforgettable performances with @Lionesses, @RachelDaly3. Plenty more goals for Villa now!” The post ended with the letter W, denoting it was a personal tweet from the prince.
It is not known how long Kate will be receiving treatment but it is understood she may be keen to attend events as and when she feels able to, in line with medical advice, although this will not indicate a return to full-time duties.
In a message revealing her diagnosis, she said: “This of course came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family. As you can imagine, this has taken time. It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment. But, most importantly, it has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be OK.”
