Taylor Swift can be convincing – just ask Prince William.
Prince William recently recounted how Swift convinced him to climb on stage and sing with Jon Bon Jovi almost a decade ago. The unlikely trio happened at a fundraising gala for a Centrepoint, a homeless charity he has long supported.
Prince William was seated beside Swift, and when Bon Jovi spoke to him from the stage, Swift cajoled him into joining the rocker.
“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,” Prince William said on Apple Fitness+’s Time to Walk series. “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?’”
Prince William said that the audience was having such a good time that he couldn’t bring himself to go back to his table.
“So sod it,” he said. “I can’t be the doofus who’s going to ruin it for everyone.’ 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.”
Prince William explained he didn’t know why he followed Swift to the stage – other than he didn’t know what else to do.
“To this day, I still do not know what came over me,” Prince William said. “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.’”
He said that while he’s comfortable giving speeches in front of a crowd, singing on stage is entirely different.
“At times, when you’re taken out of your comfort zone, you’ve got to roll with it,” he said. “And I think we’ve gotten to the stage in this life where we do micromanage ourselves. 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.’”