• Prince George speaks to Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, during the Premier League match between Norwich City and Aston Villa at Carrow Road. Getty Images
    Prince George speaks to Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, during the Premier League match between Norwich City and Aston Villa at Carrow Road. Getty Images
  • Prince George, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Charlotte of Cambridge are seen in the stands. Getty Images
    Prince George, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Charlotte of Cambridge are seen in the stands. Getty Images
  • Prince William and Prince George in the stands during the match. Reuters
    Prince William and Prince George in the stands during the match. Reuters
  • Prince George and Prince William are seen in the stands during the Premier League match between Norwich City and Aston Villa. Getty Images
    Prince George and Prince William are seen in the stands during the Premier League match between Norwich City and Aston Villa. Getty Images
  • Prince George, Prince William, and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge are seen in the stands. Getty Images
    Prince George, Prince William, and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge are seen in the stands. Getty Images
  • Conor Hourihane of Aston Villa scores his sides fourth goal. Getty Images
    Conor Hourihane of Aston Villa scores his sides fourth goal. Getty Images
  • Aston Villa's Douglas Luiz scores his side's fifth goal. PA Wire
    Aston Villa's Douglas Luiz scores his side's fifth goal. PA Wire
  • Aston Villa's Conor Hourihane scores their fourth goal. Action Images via Reuters
    Aston Villa's Conor Hourihane scores their fourth goal. Action Images via Reuters
  • Aston Villa's Wesley scores his side's first goal. PA via AP
    Aston Villa's Wesley scores his side's first goal. PA via AP
  • Britain's Prince William and Prince George in the stands during the match. Reuters
    Britain's Prince William and Prince George in the stands during the match. Reuters
  • The score board displays the final result. Getty Images
    The score board displays the final result. Getty Images

Prince William takes Prince George and Princess Charlotte to watch Aston Villa beat Norwich City 5-1


Ian Oxborrow
  • English
  • Arabic

In sporting parlance, Aston Villa gave Norwich City a royal beating in the Premier League on Saturday.

And it just so happened that Villa's 5-1 victory was witnessed by the royal family.

Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, took son Prince George, 6, and daughter Princess Charlotte, 4, to Carrow Road to cheer on Villa, for whom their father is a long-time supporter.

They were also accompanied by their mother Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, and were treated to goals galore.

While George, wearing a Villa t-shirt, was animated as the goals flew in, his parents appeared to be explaining the rules to the children as they sat among the crowd of 27,045. Thankfully there were no big VAR incidents that can leave even the most experienced pundits scratching their heads.

It was the first time Villa have scored five goals in an away match since April 2008 when they won 6-0 at Derby County.

They were 2-0 up at half-time thanks to a brace from striker Wesley, before second half goals from Jack Grealish, Conor Hourihane and Douglas Luiz sealed the victory. Josip Drmic netted a late consolation.

Villa manager Dean Smith said he will try to get his team's most famous fans a ticket for "every game if they need them" after Saturday's win.

"I will put a call in to see if we can get them on the (team bus) next game," he added.

Just a few months ago, Prince William was seen at Wembley as Villa won promotion to the Premier League via the Championship play-off final. He was seen punching the air in celebration from a corporate box on that occasion.