This wasn’t the first time William and Swift met. On November 26, 2013, they duetted at the Winter White Gala at Kensington Palace, belting out the Jon Bon Jovi hit “Livin’ On a Prayer” to benefit charity. “He was very nice. I was really glad to have met him,” Swift said at the time. Years later, in a 2021 interview, William remembered his impromptu rock star moment. “I went to a charity fundraising gala for Centrepoint,” he said, where “Jon Bon Jovi and Taylor Swift are at the event, which nearly knocked me off my feet.”
“I’m sat next to Taylor Swift. She’s on my left. And after Jon does his first song, there’s a pause, and she turns to me. She puts her hand on my arm, looks me in the eye, and says, ‘Come on, William. Let’s go and sing,’” he remembered. “To this day, I still do not know what came over me. Honestly, even now I’m cringing at what happened next, and I don’t understand why I gave in. But, frankly, if Taylor Swift looks you in the eye, touches your arm, and says, ‘Come with me…’ I got up like a puppy and went, ‘Yeah, okay, that seems like a great idea. I’ll follow you.’”
William was “a little scared,” Taylor had recounted. The prince was even clearer: “Beneath my black tie, there was a lot of sweating going on. I felt like a swan, where I was trying to keep myself composed on the outside, but inside, the little legs are paddling fast. When I do speeches and things like that, I’ve done so many now, they’re not a problem. But I’ve not done singing. At times, when you’re taken out of your comfort zone, you’ve got to roll with it.”
Given her years of history with William, beginning with encouraging him to step out of that royal comfort zone, then, it’s no surprise that Swift has received that royal blessing for her and Kelce’s happy news.
Originally published in Vanity Fair Italia.
