On a visit to the England training camp, William burst out laughing and shook his head as the 6ft 7in (2.04 metre) Liverpool forward gave a reprise of the stiff-legged robotic shuffle that has apparently sparked a dance craze.

Crouch, 25, performed the dance -- a jerky blend of body-popping, robotic dancing and moonwalking -- after bagging England's second goal in the 3-1 friendly win against Hungary at Old Trafford, Manchester, on Tuesday night.

After a two-day ribbing in the British press about his dancing abilities, teammates urged Crouch to give them a laugh once more when the prince dropped in at Manchester United's Carrington training ground to wish them luck.

At a news conference later, Crouch described how he was goaded into repeating the dance, which developed from his dancefloor moves at a pre-World Cup charity event thrown by David Beckham and his wife Victoria last week.

"I thought, he's the future king of England and I've just done a dance in front of him. It's a bit surreal but he seemed to like it, he talked to us afterwards about it," he said Thursday.

Midfielder Joe Cole said William, who visited in his capacity as the new president of the English Football Association (FA), was "just a normal fellow, (a) down to earth guy."

"He is a nice bloke. He just wants to get a feel of it, being the president, wants to know what the lifestyle for the lads is like. He's more of a rugby man than a football man but he did seem to know his stuff," he added.

"A few of the lads quizzed him about why he supports Aston Villa. He said it was because he went to watch them as a youngster and liked watching them. But I think Chelsea is his local side, Buckingham Palace and all that."

William, who is second-in-line to the British throne, talked to injured Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney, whose chances of making the finals in Germany on June 9 are touch and go after he broke a bone in his foot in April.

He also chatted with England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson and other members of the England squad, who are due to take on Jamaica at Old Trafford on Saturday in their final warm-up match.

The team flies out to Germany on Monday with the prince expected to watch the opening fixture against Paraguay on June 10 after meeting England fans and local dignitaries in Frankfurt.

His first duty as FA president was attending the FA Cup final between Liverpool and West Ham in Cardiff in May but the Paraguay match will be his first England fixture in that capacity.