Prince William says he's 'deeply saddened' by Diogo Jota's death

The Prince of Wales has said he's 'deeply saddened' to hear of the passing of Liverpool footballer Diogo Jota.

Prince William, 43, sent his well wishes to the friends and family of Diogo, who died with his younger brother Andre when their Lamborghini crashed as they drove through northern Spain.

Taking to X, the royal FA patron wrote, 'As part of the footballing family, I am deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Diogo Jota and his brother.'

He continued, 'Our thoughts are with his family, friends, and all who knew him @LFC @Wolves. W'

The Liverpool star and his brother crashed as they drove through northern Spain to catch an overnight ferry to the UK, it emerged today.

The tyre of the supercar, reportedly a £150,000 Urus SUV, is said to have blown out while overtaking on the A-52 at Cernadilla near Zamora - just ten miles over the border from Portugal.

The siblings were headed to Santander to catch a ferry to Britain after Diogo was advised not to fly following lung surgery, it was reported in his home country today.

Liverpool are due to start pre-season training on Monday, so Jota was heading back to the UK on a road trip with his brother, less than two weeks after he married his childhood sweetheart Rute in his home city of Porto on June 22.

Doctors reportedly advised the Liverpool star not to catch a plane after a recent operation, so he was getting a boat instead. A Brittany Ferries service from Santander to Plymouth leaves at 4 pm today, arriving in Devon at 11.15 am on Friday.

CNN Portugal's sports editor Rui Loura said today live on air: 'The surgery he had was lung surgery and he had been advised against flying following this.

'He was on his way to the northern Spanish port city of Santander to cross by ferry and reach the UK that way and carry on with the car once he reached Britain. He was on his way to Liverpool with his brother.'

Another Portuguese journalist, Victor Pinto told the country's CMTV channel: 'Diogo sometimes chose to travel by road because he had some pulmonary discomfort, nothing serious, and as we know, there is a ferry boat that connects the south of England to Spain'.

Jota died at the age of 28 after his Lamborghini careered off a road in northern Spain, devastating his family and the world of football. His brother Andre, his only sibling, was 26.

The supercar came off the road, rolled and then burst into flames at around 12.35am, also igniting the surrounding vegetation. The emergency services were called but the brothers could not be saved. Police say they don't yet know who was driving.

Liverpool FC said in a statement that the club is 'devastated' by the tragedy and that Diogo's family, friends and fans had suffered an 'unimaginable loss'. Flowers and tributes are being laid outside Anfield today, with many fans in tears.

Jota had just married Rute Cardoso, the 28-year-old mother of his three children and partner since the age of 16. He had described himself as the luckiest man in the world to be her husband, sharing moving footage of their wedding day in his final Instagram post on Wednesday afternoon. 

The couple married on June 22 in Porto, the footballer's home city. Rute shared more wedding day pictures in a social media post yesterday and said: 'My dream come true.' Jota replied in the comments: 'I'm the lucky one.'

The Lamborghini crash happened on the A-52 in the province of Zamora. The Spanish dual carriageway is a key route taken by drivers after leaving northern Portugal as they head for the ports of Santander and Bilbao or drive north-east towards France.

Emergency services in the Castilla and Leon region confirmed the crash and two fatalities at around 12.35am on Thursday morning. Diogo and Andre's deaths were then confirmed by the Portuguese Football Federation at around 8am.

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Cristiano Ronaldo, Jota's friend and teammate and Portugal's greatest player, said today: 'It doesn't make any sense. Just now we were together for the national team, you were just married. To your family, to your wife and children, I send my condolences and wish them all the strength in the world. I know you will always be with them. RIP. Diogo and Andre. We will all miss you'.

Diogo was born Diogo Silva, but changed his surname to Jota to stand out because it is a common surname. His brother Andre kept the family name.

The boys were the only children of parents Joaquim and Isabel Silva.

Jota was part of Liverpool's Premier League-winning side in the 2024/25 campaign, scoring six goals in 26 appearances. He also played for Portugal's national team and helped it win the Nations League last month in an extraordinary win over rivals Spain on penalties.

His younger brother played for Penafiel, in the second tier of Portuguese football.

The Spanish civil guard said he was found dead alongside his brother Andre Silva, after their car went off a road near the city of Zamora.

'The 1-1-2 Castilla y León operations room received several calls reporting a vehicle accident at Km. 65 of the A-52, in the municipality of Cernadilla, Zamora. A car was reported to have been involved in an accident and the vehicle was on fire,' a statement read.

'1-1-2 notified the Zamora Traffic Police, the Zamora Provincial Council Fire Brigade, and the Sacyl Emergency Coordination Center (CCU) of this accident.

'From there, a Medical Emergency Unit (UME) and the Primary Care Medical Staff (MAP) from the Mombuey Health Center were sent, who confirmed the death of two people on the scene'.