Did you know that Prince Edward was a Leeds fan? Not only that, he’s keen to take on a new role as a roving ambassador for the club!

Like many young lads growing up in the early 1970s, Prince Edward was drawn to support the team that was then the best side in the country, during the years when Billy Bremner and co swept all before them. Edward fondly remembers the night in April 1975 when Leeds clinched a draw in Barcelona to reach the European Cup final. He’d been sent to bed early at Gordonstown boarding school, but managed to smuggle a tranistor radio into the dormitory so he could listen to the commentary, before sneaking out to celebrate with the all the other Leeds fans in the school.

 As our fortunes declined in more recent years the Prince kept his passion for the mighty whites a bit of a secret, but now the boy Wessex has been so overcome by the excitement of our play-off challenge that he’s come out of the closet and publicly declared his support for Leeds United. And the club have seized the opportunity to offer him the chance to become the club’s first ever roving ambassador. The idea is that he will “give the Leeds United brand a higher profile throughout the world and work to improve the image of the club”.  

 A Buckingham Palace spokesman said yesterday “Prince Edward has confirmed that he greatly enjoyed watching Leeds’ recent game at Oldham on Sky television, and that he hopes to make it up to Elland Road for a home game before the end of the season. And he is delighted to accept the role as a roving ambassador for the club. From now on he will put in a good word for the club on royal visits, whenever he meets influential people such as Alastair Darling, Bono, and Queen Juliana of the Netherlands ”.   

Well, what to make of this news? For a long time I’ve thought that Edward was the most useless member of the royal family (against some fairly stiff competition) but now I know he’s a Leeds fan he’s gone right up in my estimation. We can only hope that in his new role he manages to impress somebody really rich like the Sultan of Brunei or Bill Gates! 

Photo: Action Images

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