Karen Carney has revealed she teased Prince William about Aston Villa when he presented her with an OBE, and the royal took the football banter well.
The former Lionesses star, an ardent Birmingham City supporter, received the honour in 2024 for her services to women's football. She was awarded the gong by Prince William, Aston Villa's most famous fan, before lifting the Glitterball trophy with Carlos Gu on Strictly in 2025.
A memorable day for Carney
Reflecting on the occasion, Carney said: "It's been in the diary for some time and then only as I walked up and got into the room, I got a little bit emotional and then it became quite real."
She added: "The one common language that we can all speak is football, so I had a good football chat with [Prince William], which was cool and had a really good time."
Football chat and Villa banter
Carney received the award on the same day Villa played Bayern Munich in the Champions League. She said: "There's a big Villa game tonight, which he's going to. So I did my dad proud and said, 'Look, I'm gonna give you some banter about the Villa and make sure you know I'm a Blues fan', which I've told him many times before."
She described Prince William as a "massive football fan" and noted she had met him before when playing for England.
Advice for Strictly star
This year's Strictly features former Premier League winger Shaun Wright-Phillips, who received advice from Carney before taking to the dance floor. He said: "She gave me some advice. Pretty much [the] same advice that was coming into it in terms of hard work, enjoy it and respect your pro, which I would have just done from the get-go."
The 44-year-old, who won 36 caps for England and is now a broadcaster, has been paired with professional Alexis Warr. The pair performed together for the first time last weekend.
