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The Prince of Wales was at the forefront of jubilant celebrations as Aston Villa<\/a>\u2019s party spilt over into the early hours following their Europa League triumph<\/a>.<\/p>\n Prince William was in Istanbul on Wednesday night to see the club end their 30-year trophy drought and was pictured wiping away tears of joy<\/a>.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Villa\u2019s royal connection dates back more than 100 years to King George VI, the great grandfather of William.<\/p>\n The heir to the throne was at the Istanbul Hilton Bosphorus with Villa\u2019s players to celebrate the momentous achievement, with the bash still in full swing at 5am. Maja Nilsson Lindelof, wife of Villa player Victor Lindelof, posted a picture on Instagram with the Prince as well the brothers of the Swedish international who joined her at the final.<\/p>\n Prince William<\/a> addressed the players before and after the match in the dressing room on a night when Villa<\/a> swept Freiburg<\/a> aside to claim their first major trophy since the 1996 League Cup.<\/p>\n But the Prince is not Villa\u2019s first royal connection, as the first member of the Royal family to visit the club was George VI in 1924 when he opened the club\u2019s old Trinity Road Stand.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The stand has since been refurbished and is where Prince William watches games from when he attends Villa Park.<\/p>\n King George VI was the Duke of York when he opened the stand as part of Villa\u2019s golden jubilee on January 26, 1924. According to club historians, 56,000 people attended his visit which coincided with a game against Bolton Wanderers.<\/p>\n According to the club\u2019s official website, the future king told Fred Rinder, the then-Villa chairman, that he had no idea \u201ca ground so finely equipped in every way \u2013 and devoted to football \u2013 existed\u201d. Villa won the game 1-0.<\/p>\n