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Aston Villa had royalty in attendance as they stormed their way into the Europa League final. Prince William made no secret of his wholehearted support for the club as Unai Emery's side moved to within 90 minutes of European glory on Thursday.

Having surrendered the opening leg of their semi-final 1-0, Villa exacted their revenge with a commanding 4-0 thrashing of Nottingham Forest in the reverse fixture. Their prize is a Europa League showdown against Freiburg on May 20 after the Bundesliga outfit squeezed past Braga. An English club will feature in each of this season's three European finals in a remarkable campaign for the Premier League. Arsenal will take on titleholders Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, while Crystal Palace will face Rayo Vallecano in the Conference League finale.

Yet Villa supporter Prince William had eyes only for what unfolded at Villa Park as he witnessed his beloved side settle the score against Forest. Two goals from John McGinn rounded off a historic evening following earlier strikes from Ollie Watkins and Emiliano Buendia, with the heir to the British throne doing precious little to conceal his delight.

Regarding his children, Prince William has adopted a relaxed stance and has no intention of imposing his own footballing allegiances upon them. Prince George accompanied his father to last year's Champions League clash at PSG, yet the future King later confided to TNT Sports pundit Rio Ferdinand he would make no such demands of his son.

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When pressed on whether he would encourage George to follow Villa, Prince William was adamant he would not interfere. And not just in George's case, as he would afford all his children the freedom to support whichever club they chose.

"I'm genuinely open to whoever they support," he said. "I'm a bit biased but also they come to Villa games so they're probably going to support Villa. I've left the other two at home tonight so we'll wait and see who they support."

The Prince of Wales has previously revealed he grew up surrounded by Villa-supporting friends and was swept along with the enthusiasm. He has also disclosed he deliberately chose to back a mid-table side that would guarantee more "rollercoaster, emotional moments" - a decision that has paid off.

As fate would have it, the 43-year-old was born less than a month after Villa's last European triumph. They defeated Bayern Munich in Rotterdam in May 1982, shortly before the late Princess Diana welcomed her first child into the world.

The first Villa match Prince William attended was an FA Cup semi-final victory over Bolton in 2000. That clash was settled on penalties before they faced Chelsea in the final, where a solitary strike from Roberto Di Matteo proved their undoing.

More than 25 years on, Villa will once again feature in a major final later this month. Emery will be hoping to claim silverware in front of a royal procession as he bids to secure the Europa League trophy for a remarkable fifth time in his illustrious career.