Princess Charlotte has chosen her side in a royal football divide, and it is not Prince William’s.
William has revealed that his daughter supports Chelsea, meaning she appears to have followed Kate Middleton rather than her father when it comes to club loyalty.
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William is one of Aston Villa’s most famous supporters and recently celebrated the club’s Europa League triumph in Istanbul.
But during a visit to Nansledan near Newquay in Cornwall, he admitted that Charlotte has gone in a different direction.
For a family that usually keeps its public image tightly controlled, the football split offered a rare, harmless glimpse of domestic disagreement.
It is hardly a real feud, but it does place Charlotte and Kate on one side and William on the other.
Charlotte chooses Chelsea over Aston Villa
William has often spoken warmly about his Aston Villa support and has taken Prince George to matches in the past.
Charlotte, however, has not followed that path.
Her reported Chelsea loyalty gives the story a different twist, especially because Kate has also been linked with the west London club.
It is a bold choice, although many football fans would argue that choosing Chelsea is rarely the route to a quiet life.
The club has become almost as famous for chaos, spending, and constant reinvention as it has for trophies, which makes Charlotte’s preference feel like a surprisingly dramatic pick for a young royal.
William lets his children choose
To his credit, William has not tried to force Aston Villa on his children.
He has said he wants them to find their own teams which is a healthy approach, even if it leaves him outnumbered at home.
William has spent years presenting Villa support as a mark of loyalty and suffering, only for Charlotte to land on Chelsea instead.
In fairness, that may be the most modern royal outcome possible: carefully polite on the surface, quietly competitive underneath and somehow still involving Chelsea drama.