The Prince of Wales is a regular in the stands at Villa Park to watch his team in action, and as he greeted hundreds of royal fans queuing up at Lambeth Bridge today, he couldn't help but challenge his rivals. William was overheard telling a young child, "we can't all be perfect" after the boy expressed he was a Manchester United fan.
The light-hearted comment came with a rupture of laughter and cheered up mourners that had been waiting hours on end to pay their respects to the late Queen. Another Aston Villa supporter was heard chanting "up the Villa" as the Prince passed him by chuckling. William continued along the barriers, speaking to people of all ages and shaking their hands, crouching down to see eye-to-eye with the children.
"It's a long way to go isn't it," he said, checking that another child had snacks and hadn't been too cold.
"I'm sorry about the wait," he said to person at the barrier. "You're over halfway now, you're doing really well."
Crowds could be heard singing "God Save the King" and rupturing in applauds and three cheers, as William thanked them for waiting so long in the cold.
"William you'll make a fantastic King," a woman said, while another corrected her: "You'll make a fantastic Prince of Wales."
Prince William joked with many of the people in the line about the weather, before adding: "Thank you so much for queueing, I've been praying for the weather to stay good."
He listened to the stories of their travels, asked people where they had come from, then expressed his surprise at them queuing for so long.
"She would never believe it honesty, she would love it," William told a royal fan, sharing how his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, would have been amazed at the audience.
Members of the crowd could be heard telling William how they'd travelled from Amsterdam and the Czech Republic, to which he replied expressing his shock and gratitude.
One fan was clutching a giant Paddington Bear teddy and explained how she'd came from Peru to take it to the hall.
He told others that he hoped they had made friends for life, and apologised for holding up the crowd by greeting them.
Those waiting in the queue, which now has its own BBC weather forecast, faced temperatures of 7C just before 7am on Saturday, at which time the official queue tracker advised the public not to make the journey.
You can now buy Friday's historic Daily Mirror commemorating the death of the Queen here: mirror.co.uk/commemorative
