Prince William goes through emotional rollercoaster watching his beloved Aston Villa in Paris as he relishes ‘making really important memories’ with George

Prince William revealed he wanted Prince George to experience ‘a big away night in Europe’ as the royals attended Aston Villa’s Champions League quarter-final against PSG.

The pair went through an emotional rollercoaster during the first half of the match at the Parc des Princes in Paris.

Prince William and George launched into celebrations when Morgan Rogers gave Aston Villa a first half lead against PSG, only for the hosts to equalise through a superb Desire Doue strike. 

The Prince of Wales had joined TNT Sports pundits Rio Ferdinand and Ally McCoist ahead of taking his seat for the first leg.

Prince William has been seen watching Aston Villa throughout their Champions League run and was invited to the quarter-final first leg by PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi.

He explained how the tie would help to create ‘special memories’ with Prince George.

In response to Ferdinand’s question as to whether it was a ‘lads’ trip’, Prince William insisted he was on his ‘best behaviour’ in the French capital. 

‘I’m not sure how many Villa fans there will be but they will make themselves well know,’ Prince William said.

‘I have got my son here too so I am on best behaviour but 43 years since this has happened and I want George to experience a night out in a big competition, those memories are really important to create and bringing him away is important. 

‘I am open to who they support, I am bias but they come to games with Villa so it will likely be Villa, but I have left the other two at home probably watching on TV. We will see who they support.’ 

Prince William, who also serves as the FA president, predicted Unai Emery’s side would secure a 2-1 victory in the first leg to boost their hopes of reaching the semi-finals.

He, however, admitted to being ‘pretty terrified’ ahead of facing the French champions with PSG having impressed throughout the Champions League to date.

‘It has been a while coming so it is a big game, 43 years since this happened, but I am confident and excited by the prospect,’ he told TNT Sports. ‘I am wearing all my clothes and bits and pieces and have done my routines.

Prince William was also seen in the tunnel before kick-off and hugged Aston Villa and England forward Marcus Rashford as the players made their way to the changing rooms following the warm-ups. 

He previously explained how he came to support Aston Villa.

‘A long time ago at school, I got into football, big time,’ William, who first visited Villa Park in November 2013, once explained.

‘I was looking around for a club to support, and all my friends at school were either Manchester United fans or Chelsea fans.

‘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 the more emotional rollercoaster moments.

‘To be honest, now, looking back, that was a bad idea – I could have had an easier time!

‘Aston Villa has always had a great history. I’ve got friends who support Aston Villa and one of the first FA Cup games I went to was Bolton versus Aston Villa, it was a semi-final.

‘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.’

Curiously, William’s interest in the club intensified following a downturn in their fortunes.

‘I kept an eye on Villa from then on but didn’t get too involved initially,’ he told the Sun. ‘But Villa being relegated to the Championship in 2016 got me even more interested, strangely.

‘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.

‘I’d grown up looking at Ceefax on the television or the back pages of newspapers, and if you didn’t have those to hand you were a bit out of the loop.

‘But now you can get so much data and follow how your team is doing all the time and there’s so much more discussion and debate. That’s how my passion really increased.’