Prince William ‘cringes’ as he recalls following Taylor Swift on stage ‘like a puppy’ to sing with Jon Bon Jovi
‘I think that making a fool of yourself is OK,’ says the Duke of Cambridge
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Your support makes all the difference.Prince William has admitted he followed Taylor Swift “like a puppy” onto a stage to sing along with Jon Bon Jovi during a performance at Kensington Palace in 2013.
The Duke of Cambridge said he was “cringing” at the memory that he “walked up on stage in a trance” to sing ‘Livin’ On A Prayer’ with the two music stars during the Centrepoint Gala Dinner.
Speaking on Apple Fitness+ Time To Walk on Sunday, he told listeners: “I can’t believe I’m actually telling you this story… I turn up and Jon Bon Jovi and Taylor Swift are at the event, which nearly knocked me off my feet.
“And then I went inside, met everybody, a lot of handshaking to do these nights, a lot of chatting. I try and be charming and interactive. Occasionally, you’re not having a good day and it’s a little harder to come by.
“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’.”
But the prince did not see what was coming, as he was sat next to Swift during the performance. After Bon Jovi’s first song, the pop star turned to William.
“She puts her hand on my arm, looks me in the eye and says: ‘Come on, William. Let’s go and sing’.
“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,” he admitted.
“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, OK, 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?’,” William continued.
But the duke saw how much the audience was enjoying the performance, as they were “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. So I desperately try and remember some of the words and sing as hard as I can.”
William confessed that under his suit, “there was a lot of sweating going on”, and likened his stage performance to being like a “swan”.
“I was trying to keep myself composed on the outside, but inside, the little legs were paddling fast,” he said, adding that although many people may think he is comfortable on stage because his speeches, he had “not done singing” before.
After telling the story, William added that when life throws situations like that in the way, “you’ve got to roll with it”.
“I think we’ve got to the stage in this life where we do micromanage ourselves,” he said. “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 that making a fool of yourself is OK.
“It’s OK to not take yourself too seriously and have those moments where you let go and you just go: ‘Do you know what? I’m OK with this’.”
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