Prince William puts on animated display as he watches beloved Aston Villa beat Bayern Munich

Prince William was seen posing with his favourite football team Aston Villa ahead of his beloved football team defeating Bayern Munich in their Champions League tie

Prince William was pictured for the first time since his wife Kate Middleton resumed royal duties following her cancer diagnosis.

The father of three, 42, was seen posing alongside his favourite football team Aston Villa. Stood in the centre of "Aston Villa royalty", Prince William appeared pleased as punch. The premiere league team played their first home game in Europe since 1983 and so it's perhaps understandable that the official social media account for the team, posted a picture of the royal. They captioned the snap that read: "Royalty meets Aston Villa royalty."

As they game commenced Prince William was seen sat in the stadium and appeared to be on the edge of his seat as the team strived for a winning goal. And soon after he was seen putting his arms up in their air, as he cheered Aston Villa on. Dressed smartly in a navy blue jacket, he seemed to go through a number of emotions.

And fans wasted no time in commenting on the post. One said: "It's another beautiful night for Villa. Let's go and be great." Another wrote: "So good to see him." And a third person penned: "Great pictures and the Aston Villa sign on the grey floor looks good." In his younger days, Prince William made no secret of his love for Aston Villa, despite the fact they were fighting for a place in the European Cup.

And now, he was able to sit back and watch Villa play against Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Earlier on Wednesday, footballing stars including former Scotland player Ally McCoist received honours from William at an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle.

McCoist, who was made an OBE, said the pair talked about football, including Aston Villa’s European tie. McCoist told the PA news agency: “I’m obviously well aware that the prince is an Aston Villa fan – they’ve got a very, very big game tonight, which I think he’s going to. So we spoke about that, and just generally working in broadcasting and life really.”

Former England international Karen Carney, who was made an OBE, said she had “some banter” with William – who supports the rival team to her Birmingham City. “To be brutally honest, a lot of people know I’m a Birmingham City fan, there’s a big game at Aston Villa tonight,” Carney said.

“Obviously with Prince William being a Villa fan I thought there was a good opportunity for some banter with him. He was really gracious, he’s going to the game, which is cool. So we just chatted about football really which is I think the common language for everybody, I think everyone can talk about football which is really good. I’ve met him previously with the Lionesses, he’s a football fan for both the men’s and women’s game, which is really cool.”

This comes after Kate was seen for the first time since releasing an update on her cancer diagnosis. Kate returned to work and was seen hugging an aspiring photographer, who also inspired Kate and Prince William. The photographer, Liz Hatton, is only 16 and is bravely battling an aggressive and rare form of cancer.

A caption under the touching photograph posted on X, read: "A pleasure to meet with Liz at Windsor today. A talented young photographer whose creativity and strength has inspired us both. Thank you for sharing your photos and story with us."

Kate and William asked the teen for her help to document an investiture ceremony at Windsor. And in a separate post on Instagram, Liz was thanked again. This time, the caption said: "Congratulations to everyone who received honours at Windsor today! It was a pleasure to have @lizhatton_photography helping us to capture these special moments." Back in August, Princess Kate made a rare public appearance amidst her ongoing cancer treatment.

Taking to their official social media account, Prince William and the Princess of Wales wrote: "Well done @teamgb, what an incredible journey! Every athlete showed immense dedication, heart and passion. You made us all so proud! They added: "Here’s to celebrating every triumph at @paris2024 and looking forward to more from @paralympicsgb_official later in the summer."

In the video, Catherine said: "From all of us watching at home, congratulations to Team GB." "Well done on all you've achieved," added William, before saying: "You've been an inspiration to us all."Their encouraging words were accompanied by a video that was a montage of messages by a host of celebrities, including David Beckham and rapper Snoop Dogg.

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