Prince George beams as he meets Jack Grealish at FA Cup final

Young royal shakes hands with players from both sides including the Man City star who used to play for the Prince’s team Aston Villa

With a deftness and confidence beyond his years, Prince George was every inch the Royal dignitary at Wembley on Saturday.

The young Prince shook hands with the players at the end of the FA Cup final, congratulating surprise winners Manchester United and offering words of commiseration to the vanquished Manchester City team.

In a manner which suggested he might in future be quite good at his inherited role, Prince George proffered his hand to the global stars who had just battled it out for football’s most historic cup.

Maybe it was big match nerves, but he had earlier looked a little anxious when he made a surprise appearance in the Royal Box – sucking in his cheeks and adjusting his well-combed hair.

But as the game went on, Prince George appeared to relax somewhat, while still mindful of course that he was on display in front of the packed stands.

The final might not have featured their beloved Aston Villa, but Prince William and George did not appear to bear any grudges when they handed out the winners’ and runners’ medals.

The Prince of Wales had earlier shaken hands and wished both United and City the best of luck when he was introduced to the teams, moments before kick-off.

Both Prince William, who is president of the Football Association, and George, who often attends matches with his father, kept a close eye on the action throughout the game, which ended 2-1 in United’s favour.

Prince William and George last month travelled to a Villa game together to watch their team take on Lille in the first leg of the Europa Conference League quarter-final.

On that occasion, 10-year-old George wore the team’s scarf and was seen clapping and smiling alongside his father as their team secured a 2-1 victory.

The pair could have been forgiven for thinking about what could have been, given that Villa bowed out of the FA Cup in February after a 3-1 home defeat to Chelsea.

William last week praised the club for qualifying to play Champions League football next season, paying tribute to their “historic season” and “amazing achievement”. These sentiments were no doubt echoed by Prince George in his inimitable way.

Indeed, there was a particularly touching moment on Saturday when George shook hands with former Villa star and now City player Jack Grealish – the young Prince’s face breaking into a huge smile at meeting one of his heroes.

The appearance of Prince William and his son will be one of the few official engagements carried out by members of the Royal family during the general election campaign.