Years Of Mystery, Queen Elizabeth II's Favorite Football Club Revealed Due To Tongue Sprain
JAKARTA - Elizabeth II is Queen of Great Britain and 15 other Commonwealth countries - meaning she likely doesn't have much time to keep up with the latest football results.
While the younger members of her family are happy to share details of their loyalty, like Prince William with his Aston Villa, the 95-year-old queen has never detailed her favorite club.
However, according to reports in 2009 in alleged conversations with staff working at Buckingham Palace, the Queen once slipped her tongue.
And the reports claim that he has expressed his love for West Ham United.
While we may never really know where her backing lies, there has been more than one debate about this in the past, where the late Prince Phillip even laughed off the Queen's connection to the identical team of red and blue.
Queen Elizabeth II is said to have revealed her love for the Hammers in front of royal staff after she 'overheard' conversations about the club's iconic rivalry with Millwall.
The Mirror quoted a Windsor Castle source as saying: "The Queen never wants people to know who she is supporting because she wants to appear neutral.
"But he opened up after overhearing one of his staff members say he is a Millwall fan and was talking to other staff members about the derby between West Ham and their arch-rivals.
"They were quite surprised - after all, he's not a typical West Ham fan."
However, West Ham vice chairman Karren Brady once asked Prince Philip if it was true that the Queen backed the Hammers, and the immediate reaction was not very positive.
Brady told The Sun after Philip's death earlier this year: "I tried to resolve the tension by asking him if it was true that the Queen was a West Ham supporter.
"He looked really confused and said — actually shouted — 'Why do you think that?'"
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Meanwhile, in 2007, Arsenal's players were given a tour around Buckingham Palace by the Queen. According to Cesc Fabregas, who at that time was still called a 'child prodigy', the Queen said she was a Gooner.
"It looks like the Queen is following football and she told us she is an Arsenal fan," Fabregas said at the time.
"He seemed to really know who I was and we spoke some special words."
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said the Queen, during her reign, has watched a number of football matches and often presented the trophy at the FA Cup Final.
"However, Prince William is now president of the FA and he has left this job to him," the spokesperson said.
He then confirmed that the Queen would remain neutral in terms of supporting English football clubs. "Which team he supports is not something we will know."