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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Kyle O'Sullivan

Which football team did the Queen support - rumours and confession that shocked staff

The Queen might not have been a natural football fan - but she did develop a love for the sport. Her Majesty was known to become quite animated when following the England team on TV and has hosted a number of different squads over the years.

King Charles III is known to support Burnley, Prince Harry is an Arsenal fan, while Prince William loves Aston Villa and is bringing Prince George up to be the same, but there is a major dispute over which football club the Queen liked best.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman once said: "The Queen, over her reign, has watched a number of football matches and often used to present the cup at the FA Cup Final. Prince William is now president of the FA and she has handed this job over to him. Which team she supports is not something we would know."

There are two Premier League clubs that have the most compelling evidence.

Arsenal

(AFP via Getty Images)

Although she has never publicly declared her favourite football team, there is one side the Queen has been consistently linked to - Arsenal.

For starters, it's the same club that her grandson Harry supports, so she may have convinced him to be a fans of the North London side.

In a speech in the House of Commons in 2016, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: "Now, we know the Queen is absolutely above politics.

"She may be above football, too, but many locals harbour this quite secret view that she’s actually, privately, a Gooner."

Back in 2007, the Queen hosted then Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and many of the players at a reception in Buckingham Palace.

Former Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas claimed that the Queen told him she was "a fan" of the North London club.

"It seems the Queen follows football and she told us she was an Arsenal fan," Fabregas said. "She appeared to definitely know who I was and we exchanged a few special words."

West Ham

West Ham paid tribute to the Queen (Simon Dael/REX/Shutterstock)

Another rumour is that the Queen is actually a West Ham United supporter - and secretly let it slip to shocked staff.

Her allegiance is believed to date back to her admiration for West Ham's most successful manager, the late Ron Greenwood, who she met him several times and awarded him the CBE in 1981.

A Windsor Castle source told The Mirror in 2009: "The Queen has never wanted people to know who she supports because she wants to be seen to be neutral.

"But she gave up her secret after overhearing one of her staff members saying he was a Millwall fan and was talking to another member of staff about the derby between West Ham and their arch rivals.

"They were quite shocked - after all, she's not exactly your typical West Ham fan."

Queen's love of the beautiful game

The Queen handing Bobby Moore with the Jules Rimet Trophy (PA)

The Queen famously presented the Jules Rimet trophy to England Captain Bobby Moore when the Three Lions won their one and only World Cup in 1966.

She held a reception for the England, Scotland and Jamaican based football squads in October 1998 at Buckingham Palace.

And a The 75-strong England party, including back-room staff as well as high profile players and management, arrived at the Palace in three coaches back in November 2002.

The drinks-and-canapes reception was staged in the Blue Drawing Room at the Palace where FA chairman Geoffrey Thompson, along with then England manager Sven-Goran Erikkson and captain David Beckham were the first to meet the Queen.

While Becks may have seemed the obvious choice, the Queen would later reveal that her favourite footballer is actually one of his England teammates.

The Queen met Michael Owen in 2002 (PA)

Sven had lunch with the Queen and started asking her about her football preferences.

"I was invited to lunch with The Queen with about another 10 people, Eriksson told the 'Sacked in the Morning' podcast. "At a certain point, I asked her if she liked football. She said not really.

"I asked her for her favourite player or team. I thought she would've said Beckham. 'Michael Owen is my favourite player,' she said.

"I asked why and she said: 'He looks so clean'. That was the answer I got and we didn't go on with that discussion."

* You can now buy Friday's historic Daily Mirror commemorating the death of the Queen here: mirror.co.uk/commemorative

You can leave your tributes to Queen Elizabeth II here

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