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A new role for the Prince of Wales was announced as he stepped out in Birmingham

The Prince of Wales surprised football fans as he popped into a local Wetherspoons in Birmingham ahead of Aston Villa’s away clash with Everton on Wednesday evening.

Prince William, 42, stopped for a pint of Bulmers cider at the pub in New Street Station as he prepared to take the train back down to London.

The future King arranged a meet-up with Villa fans and bought a round of beers after he attended the College of Paramedics’ inaugural emergency and critical care conference in Birmingham.

Steve Jones, 56, a Villa fan for the last 35 years, said: “We were contacted by the club saying Prince William wanted to meet a delegation of Villa fans as he was in Birmingham. He wanted to keep in the loop with everything going on at Villa.

“He was fantastic. I was quite amazed about how engaged he was with the club and his interest. He’s not a fair weather fan. He really loves the club with a passion.

“We spoke about the club, the transfers, the pending Champions League trip to Monaco, and all things Aston Villa. He asked many questions he’s got a good level of interest.”

William also spoke about his children following in his footsteps, with Steve adding: “It was 95 per cent chat about Villa as that’s our shared interest but a bit about his family.

“Young George is a Villa fan but he didn’t want all three [children] to be Villa fans. He was massively interested and seemed like a really genuine guy and all he wanted to do was talk about Villa.

“He said he was hopeful about beating Everton tonight and would be watching but was wary about new manager syndrome, or rather old manager syndrome.”