William’s band of villains: Prince celebrates Aston Villa’s cup victory with some of his oldest friends – before heading to the raucous after-party with players and WAGs
The final whistle in Istanbul last night secured Aston Villa their first major trophy in 30 years, but also unleashed an intensity of emotion in Prince William never seen before.
Red-faced, teeth clenched, fists shaking, the Prince threw himself into the air and bellowed to the heavens.
Between wiping away tears, he flung his arms around the gaggle of men in navy-blue smart casual who had watched the game alongside him from the box.
But who were his fellow fans, who enjoyed the unique experience of watching their side win alongside live commentary from a Windsor?
Some of the faces joining Wills in the box were familiar from previous trips to Villa Park.
Sitting to his right, on the end of the row, was Ben Dawes – better known as ‘Dawesey’. An old friend of William’s, Dawes co-founded a wine businesses with his wife, Pip, and recently said he is trying to master padel ‘to give myself something to think about’.
To William’s left were 16-year-old Jake van Cutsem and his banker father, Edward van Cutsem – one of William’s closest childhood friends.
William also got an invite to the afterparty to celebrate Villa’s 3-0 win over Freiburg to win the Europa League – their first European title since 1982, the year of the prince’s birth.
Star defender Victor Lindelöf’s wife Maja shared an image of her partying with William with the caption: ‘Going off the rails’. Her post also revealed that friends and family had danced and sang to ‘Sweet Caroline’ in the team hotel with the trophy.
The Prince of Wales (1) goes wild with Ben ‘Dawesey’ Dawes (2) to right looking at him. Jake van Cutsem (3) punches the air to William’s left and has an arm around his father Edward van Cutsem (4), one of William’s oldest friends. Edward has his arm around Thomas van Straubenzee (5), another of the Prince’s oldest friends
William then popped up at Villa’s afterparty, pictured with his arm around Victor Lindelöf’s wife Maja, to his left which she shared on Instagram with the phrase in Swedish that translates as ‘to go off the rails’
William and his old friends go wild as Villa go 1-0 up in the final last night
The future King was amongst the Villa fans who saw the team win a European trophy for the first time since 1982 – the year of his birth
Left to right: Ben Dawes, Prince William, Jake van Cutsem, Edward van Cutsem
Some of those who joined William in the box were familiar faces from previous trips to Villa Park
A wider shot shows William’s row contained (from left) Ben Dawes, the Prince, Jake van Cutsem, his father Edward and Thomas van Straubenzee. Elsewhere in the box were believed to be university friends of the Prince and other Van Cutsem family members
Limbs were flying around William’s box throughout the evening – and his own wild celebrations were caught on camera
William wiped away tears as he watched his beloved team win in Istanbul
Edward and William became close pals after Edward’s father, Hugh van Cutsem, befriended then-Prince Charles at Cambridge University.
Edward is King Charles’s godson, and his brothers, William and Nicholas, are godfathers to William’s sons, Prince George and Prince Louis, respectively.
The Prince was an usher at Edward’s 2004 wedding, when he married Lady Tamara Grosvenor – older sister of Hugh Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster, whose daughter is William’s goddaughter.
Edward’s son, Jake, is just 16 years old and also seemingly had the time of his life cheering on Villa.
Down from Edward was Thomas van Straubenzee, another childhood friend, and one of Princess Charlotte’s godfathers.
Thomas was one of the two men that Prince Harry claimed were the ‘real’ best men at William and Kate’s wedding.
In his memoir, Spare, Harry revealed that Thomas gave the traditional best man speech, alongside James Meade.
Thomas’s relationship with the Windsor brothers dates back to their prep school days at Ludgrove.
Edward van Cutsem, third from the left, on the balcony of Buckingham Palace alongside, from left, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, Lord Nicholas Windsor, Sarah Jane Gaselee, Catherine Cameron, Princess Diana, Clementine Hambro, the then-Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Edward and then-Prince Andrew, on the wedding day of Charles and Diana
Edward van Cutsem on his wedding day, with bride Lady Tamara Grosvenor in 2004, when William was an usher
Thomas van Straubenzee has been friends with Prince William since their prep school days
He is the global head of the private office of estate agent Knight Frank, and accompanied the Prince to New Zealand on his gap year.
The box was believed to also contain other members of the van Cutsem family and old university friends.
Becoming one with the crowd, the line of men enthusiastically joined in with a passionate rendition of Sweet Caroline.
William posted on X after the final whistle: ‘Amazing night!! Huge congratulations to all the players, team, staff and everyone connected to the club! 44 years since the last taste of European silverware!
‘Special shout out to Boubacar Kamara who has been out injured but is such an integral part of our team and helped lay the foundations of this success.’
He finished the post ‘UTV! VTID’ using the abbreviated forms of ‘Up The Villa’ and ‘Villa Till I Die’.
Earlier in the evening, William had paid a pre-match visit to the Villa dressing room, offering a final word of encouragement as Emery’s side prepared for the biggest game in a generation.
Dressed smartly in a black suit and blue shirt, he initially cut a tense figure while making his way through the tunnel ahead of kick-off. But there was little sign of nerves once the action began, as he cheered on a famous – and relatively straightforward – victory for the Birmingham club.
‘He’s a classy guy, he was in the dressing room before the game,’ Villa captain John McGinn said.
Villa wrapped up the win after breakthrough England star Morgan Rogers scored in the 58th minute, sparking jubilation among fans as they received their first major trophy in 30 years
Sxiteen-year-old Jake van Cutsem enjoyed himself in the box
William was so excited by the moment he felt compelled to capture it himself
‘He’s a massive Villa fan and he was never going to miss it. It’s great to have his support and he’s just a normal guy. Hopefully it (his support) continues and tonight he can have a couple of drinks with us and maybe get his credit card out at the end of the night.’
In the lead-up to the game against German side Freiburg, defender Ezri Konsa said that William referring to him as a ‘Rolls-Royce’ counted as the greatest compliment of his career, and that the team were grateful for his support.
‘It’s weird because on game day when he comes in you’re focused on the game a lot, so sometimes you’re in the moment and you don’t realise how big it is that you have got him coming in to greet everyone, shaking everyone’s hand,’ said Konsa, a regular for Villa and England.
‘You go home and think: “Flipping hell, I just shook his hand, he knows my name”. It’s massive and to have his support is brilliant for the club and the players.
‘He called me a Rolls-Royce once. That got stuck in my head. I’ll take that all day. It was really nice.
‘I’m sure he’d know every player’s name … since I joined he has been showing unreal support, coming into the changing room, greeting everyone and showing everyone the utmost respect. Massive credit to him for taking his time to come and watch us and support us.’
The Prince of Wales had been vocal in his support of Emery’s side ahead of the final, taking to social media before the match to deliver a rallying cry: ‘Come on Villa! Good luck in tonight’s Europa League final. UTV! W’.
This followed his passionate showing at the semi-final, where he was seen enthusiastically punching the air as Villa dispatched Premier League rivals Nottingham Forest 4-0 to book their place in Wednesday night’s showpiece.
A die-hard Villa supporter since his school days, William once explained how he chose the club while studying in Berkshire, resisting the pull of more popular teams.
‘A long time ago at school I got into football big time. I was looking around for clubs. All my friends were either Man United fans or Chelsea fans and I didn’t want to follow the run-of-the-mill teams,’ he told the BBC in 2015.
‘I wanted to have a team that was more mid-table that could give me more emotional rollercoaster moments.’
William was born 26 days after Villa’s last European victory – when they lifted the European Cup after defeating Bayern Munich on May 26, 1982.
