The Prince of Wales has received an invitation to watch Luke Littler make his Alexandra Palace debut from the darts sensation himself after they chatted about the sport at Windsor Castle.
Littler collected the MBE awarded for his contribution to the sport last Tuesday when he was told by Prince William, 43, that the World Championship at the lively north London venue 'looks like a good night out'.
The 19-year-old from Warrington admitted that visiting the royal residence was a surreal experience.
'Prince William said he's been following the journey, and we were just talking about how darts has blown up,' Littler said.
'He even said himself it looks like a good night out, so maybe we'll see Prince William at Ally Pally this year!'
The sports star continued: 'If he needs a few tickets, I'm sure myself or the PDC will sort some.'
'Turning up to Windsor Castle, it was just like….'How am I here? Why am I here?' It was a crazy experience. And then you've just got to think about what I've done for the sport.'
'Obviously they don't usually come to people so young, but for what I've done for my sport, it's been incredible and the notice has been fantastic.'
The Prince of Wales chatted with Luke Littler earlier this month after making him a Member of the Order of the British Empire at Windsor Castle - and now the sports star has extended an invite to see him make his Alexandra Palace debut.
The world number one, nicknamed 'The Nuke', was booed at Alexandra Palace in December and has also been jeered in Liverpool, Brighton and Sheffield, as well as at competitions in Europe.
His closest rival Luke Humphries believes the animosity is because 'everybody wants to knock someone down that's doing well' – and Littler has his response ready if it happens again.
'The only way to deal with it is to put your head down and win – and that's what I've done,' Littler said.
Littler and Humphries have met in the last two Premier League finals with the world number one losing his title to 'Cool Hand' last year.
The rivals are expected to clash again and Littler would be satisfied with negotiating semi-final opponent Gerwyn Price and reaching the competition's showpiece for a third successive year.
'If I can make it three finals in a row, I'll be happy, but I'll just try and beat Gezzy first,' he said.
'Some people want to see me against Luke in the final, some people might say it's a bit boring now – Luke and Luke.'
'But if we're both winning, if we're both getting to finals, one and two, no-one can do anything about it.'
'We've shared most majors over the past year or two, but let's see what happens Thursday.'
While the future king avidly follows Littler's sport - he has less luck on the darts board himself.
A video released in 2024 by Kensington Palace showed William taking his best shot in a game against actress Hannah Waddingham – only to miss the board entirely.
'Cut!' the Prince joked, while Waddingham said to the cameras: 'Can we get a close-up on this?'
The nine-minute sketch was filmed at the legendary Alexandra Palace in North London.
