Members of the Royal Family have presented the winning captain with the FA Cup since time immemorium, and The Duke of Cambridge / Prince William / “Wills” has been doing so since 2006.
Being such a seasoned pro, his Royal Highness doesn’t usually get nervous at such set-piece occasions, but this year’s FA Cup final will be a little different. You see, Prince William is an ardent Aston Villa supporter, and has been since he watched them win the League Cup back in 1996.
They haven’t won a trophy since.
In an interview with the BBC, Prince William told former England striker Gary Lineker that “I’m nervous now. I’m terrified.” Which, when you think about it, is fair enough: if your team, which hadn’t won a single sodding thing for nearly two decades, got spanked in their first final appearance since the end of the last century, would you want to be the person presenting the trophy to the other side?
Us neither.
But there’s perhaps something else gnawing away at the second in line to the throne; something altogether more harrowing than “merely” having to present the trophy you so crave to your team’s conquerors: sibling rivalry.
It turns out that Prince Harry, William’s much more enjoyable younger brother, is an Arsenal supporter. Worse still, so is the Queen.
So regardless of who wins on Saturday at Wembley, whether it’s Arsenal defending their trophy or Tim Sherwood’s Villa winning their first piece of silverware in 20 years, someone inside Kensington Palace is going to be royally pissed off.
