When Prince William joined Bon Jovi and Taylor Swift to belt out a rock classic
17 July 2024, 10:19
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"To this day, I still do not know what came over me."
It's few and far between that you see a member of the Royal Family truly letting loose, breaking the high standards of etiquette they set for themselves.
Of course, over the years they've had a few hell-raisers in their ranks - Princess Margaret and Prince Harry certainly spring to mind.
Given his near-squeaky clean reputation, Prince William would be the last Royal you'd expect to let the mask slip.
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But one fateful night in 2013, he did what he'd usually consider unthinkable, and got on stage to belt out a rock classic.
Singing in public isn't usually his port of call he'd admitted, adding that the rush of blood to the head still has him "cringing" to this day.
But Prince William took to the stage with pop and rock music royalty to sing Bon Jovi's anthem 'Livin' On A Prayer' with the man himself and Taylor Swift.
By the sounds of it, the stunt was all of Taylor Swift's doing as Jon Bon Jovi revealed in a recent interview with The Independent.
"It was all her. She literally grabbed him by the arm and ran up on stage, and they both knew the words and sang along."
Fun-loving Taylor didn't let the fact that it was her first visit to Kensington Palace dampen her spirits, for the Centrepoint Gala Dinner, a charity event for a homelessness non-profit organisation.
Bon Jovi was performing the acoustic guitar with another musician, when Taylor - who was sat next to Prince William in the crowd - grabbed him by the arm and dragged him on stage.
He nodded to Prince William to urge him up, with Prince William "kind of freaking out a little bit" Taylor later recalled, saying he didn't remember the words and that "you've got to go with me".
Seems like he didn't have much choice in the matter, as Taylor pulled him up to sing the Bon Jovi belter.
The then-Duke of Cambridge later recalled the unexpected karaoke session in a podcast interview in 2021.
"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."
"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 a dinner in a minute, and I might be able to have a chat to some people, and, you know, I’m off-duty a little bit now.'"
"Little did I think what was going to happen next."
Prince William, Taylor Swift and Bon Jovi sing Livin' On a Prayer - FULL VERSION
"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," he continues.
"She puts her hand on my arm, looks me in the eye, and says, 'Come on, William. Let’s go and sing'."
Even to this day, he doesn't actually know why he agreed to it. It must've been a moment of madness.
"To this day, I still do not know what came over me," Prince William explained. "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?'"
"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."
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Despite the nervousness and lack of fully remembering the lyrics, Prince William was a great sport on the night, and clearly made Taylor Swift a happy woman who was overjoyed she coaxed him on stage.
"At times, when you’re taken out of your comfort zone, you’ve got to roll with it and I think we’ve gotten to the stage in this life where we do micromanage ourselves," Prince William added during the podcast interview.
"We do worry about: how do we look on social media? Who said what about me? What am I wearing? 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'.” William concluded.
And the entire crowd were certainly ok with it too, in what was a truly one-off moment that also solidified the long-standing friendship between the Prince of Wales and Swift.
Even recently, the Prince let his hair down - proverbially - after being snapped shaking his hips at her recent Wembley Stadium concerts in London. She's obviously rubbed off on him.
