Prince William abused by Scottish fans in Champions League

By Ben Rumsby & John Percy of Daily Telegraph UK

The Prince of Wales was subjected to chants of “Lizzie’s in a box” and “If you hate the royal family, clap your hands” by Celtic fans during Aston Villa’s Champions League clash with the Scottish club.

Away supporters also displayed a banner in the stands glorifying an intruder who found his way into Queen Elizabeth II’s Buckingham Palace bedroom, days after Prince William was born.

The Prince of Wales, Villa’s most famous fan, attended the match on Wednesday night local time and was seen celebrating wildly as Villa raced to a 2-0 lead.

Home supporters were heard singing the national anthem in response to the abuse by Celtic fans, who were also said to have sung about the Prince’s brother, the Duke of Sussex.

The visitors are certain to face punishment from Uefa, the European football union, after their fans let off a green flare when their side pulled a goal back.

The banner about the Buckingham Palace intruder, which read “Michael Fagan The Prowler”, was displayed barely three years after fans of the Scottish champions celebrated the death of the late Queen with flags that read, “F*** the Crown” and, “Sorry for your loss Michael Fagan”.

The club was later fined more than £13,000 ($28,500) by Uefa for breaching its rules during their 1-1 Champions League draw at Shakhtar Donetsk.

The contrasting attitude towards the royal family from Villa and Celtic fans proved a major subplot to Wednesday night’s game.

The national anthem could be heard on the streets of Birmingham, while there were at least three “God Save The King” flags outside Villa Park and a St George’s Cross with a picture of the monarch.

In the febrile atmosphere, flares were also thrown at police trying to prevent clashes between rival fans.

As well as their supporters celebrating the death of the late Queen immediately after her passing, in subsequent Celtic matches chants were heard of, “If you hate the royal family, clap your hands”, and “Lizzie’s in a box”, as well as, “You can shove your coronation up your a***”, before the following year’s crowning of the King at Westminster Abbey.

At last summer’s European Championship, Scotland fans were filmed chanting “Lizzie’s in a box” on the streets of Dusseldorf ahead of a visit by the Prince of Wales to attend England’s clash with Denmark.

In September, the day before the second anniversary of the late Queen’s death, Republic of Ireland supporters were filmed taunting England supporters with the same song before their team’s Nations League defeat in Dublin.

They also repeated the chant and jeered at God Save the King during November’s return fixture at Wembley.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission