To judge from his glum expression, Prince William was not amused.
With a place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League at stake, the heir to the throne's beloved Aston Villa had been toiling for almost an hour against Club Bruges.
William cut a pensive figure up in the posh seats at Villa Park, apparently drawing little solace from either a two-goal cushion from the first leg, which Villa won 3-1, or the numerical advantage conferred by an early red card for the Belgian side.
Gamely sporting a club scarf, the prince's attempt to enjoy a boys' night out with childhood friends Edward van Cutsem and Thomas van Straubenzee, godfather to his daughter Princess Charlotte, had not been helped by a couple of decent early chances for Bruges.