Prince William followed Taylor Swift on stage 'like a puppy' for singsong (2024)

Prince William may not be the 'cool' royal but he certainly earned some brownie points for his duet with the princess of the music industry herself, Taylor Swift.

We can't help but wonder if when he was watching Tay perform in London at her Eras Tour gig he told his children about how in 2013, he and Taylor sang their hearts out alongside Jon Bon Jovi to an incredible rendition of Livin' On A Prayer and while the royal looked confident, he was anything but at the time!

The American stars were rubbing shoulders with the royal during a Centrepoint charity event at Kensington Palace and during Jon Bon's performance Taylor dragged William on stage, not giving him much choice to say 'no' to a sing-song. Almost a decade later in 2021, William finally opened up about the iconic moment admitting that it certainly wasn't as cool as it came off.

'So, around about, it must be nearly 10 years ago now, I can't believe I'm actually telling this story. I went to a charity fundraising gala for Centrepoint, which is a young homeless charity that I am very fond of and have supported for many years,' Prince William explained during his Apple Fitness+'s Time to Walk episode.

'It's an annual fundraiser, and I turn up, and Jon Bon Jovi and Taylor Swift are at the event, which nearly knocked me off my feet, as well.'

'When I sat down to watch Jon Bon Jovi do his performance, I thought, "That's it. My job is done. I'll get dinner in a minute, and I might be able to have a chat with some people, and, you know, I'm off-duty a little bit now." Little did I think what was going to happen next,' he continued.

'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 joked that he was cringing remembering the night: '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."'

'I walked up on stage in a trance, and then sort of halfway through Jon Bon Jovi's Livin' On a Prayer song, I wake up. And I'm thinking to myself, "Am I standing on the stage singing Livin' On a Prayer when I don't even know the words?".'

Yes, William just confessed to not knowing the words to one of the best-known songs ever!

'But the Centrepoint young guys and girls were there all loving it and cheering away. So I thought, "Well, if they're enjoying it, then the night is for them. So sod it. I can't be the doofus who's going to ruin it for everyone.",' he continued.

'And so I desperately try and remember some of the words and sing as hard as I can. 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.'

He went on to say that he was out of his 'comfort zone' despite spending most of his career on stage, he isn't used to letting people hear him sing.

'There's so many pressures, but I think making a fool of yourself is okay. It's okay to not take yourself too seriously and have those moments where you let go and you just go, "Do you know what? I'm okay with this.",' he reassured himself.

'Go on and have a laugh. And don't go and watch the video of me singing. Or do go and watch it, but just laugh to yourself about how I was feeling.'

Take a look at William and Taylor's performance below: