Prince William headed to Villa Park in Birmingham on Wednesday to watch his favourite football team, Aston Villa, playing against Manchester City. The Duke of Cambridge was spotted on the stands wearing a casual outfit and wrapped up in a scarf bearing the colours of Villa.

       William was spotted clinging on the railing in front of him during a particularly tense moment in the match, which ended 1-2 for City.

       As the game started at 8pm, the Duke was not in the company of his wife Kate and children George, Charlotte and Louis - who this morning had an early rise to attend classes at Thomas' Battersea and Willcocks Nursery School.

       The Duke and Duchess have been previously spotted at a Villa match with their two older children George and Charlotte.

       In October 2019, the family stepped out of their family home in Norfolk to watch Norwich City playing against Villa.

       As his father's team triumphed on the pitch, little George was spotted cheering and jumping with joy.

       Prince William never made his love for Villa a secret and has met the team multiple times as president of the Football Association.

       Six years ago, he opened up on why he chose to support a team from the Midlands.

       Speaking to Gary Linker, the Duke said in 2015: "A long time ago at school, I got into football big time. I was looking around for clubs.

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       "All my friends at school were either Man United fans or Chelsea fans and 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 more emotional rollercoaster moments.

       "Aston Villa’s always had a great history. I have got friends of mine who support Aston Villa and one of the first FA Cup games I went to was Bolton v Aston Villa back in 2000.

       "Sadly, Villa went on to lose to Chelsea.

       "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."

       This trip to the stadium by William came just a few hours after he met young and inspirational leaders at Kensington Palace.

       On Wednesday afternoon, the Duke hosted a meeting with 10 British recipients of The Diana Award's Legacy Award.

       The winners of this accolade are acknowledged for their social action or humanitarian work and for keeping alive the legacy of Princess Diana.

       The first awards were presented at an event attended by both Prince Harry and Prince William in 2017.

       Prince Harry also celebrated winners of the Diana Awards - albeit via video link.

       The Duke of Sussex joined a call from his home in Montecito to speak with a number of honourees based around the world.

       These meetings poignantly took place on December 1, which marks World Aids Day.

       Between the mid-1980s and 1990s, Princess Diana worked tirelessly to break the stigma surrounding people affected by HIV and AIDS.

       One of her most impactful moves was to shake hands, without wearing gloves, with an HIV positive person to show the virus could not spread with contact.