Last week, Prince William and his two eldest sons were seen looking proud during a Taylor Swift performance, taking a now-viral selfie with the singer before she took the stage.
But now it seems William and his daughter Princess Charlotte are competing to see who is the star’s biggest fan.
Speaking to ANDRoyal expert Katie Nicholl has given an insight into the unlikely friendship between the Prince of Wales and the American queen of pop.
He said that while Princess Charlotte is believed to be the biggest royal Swiftie, her father could be close competition given his history with the 14-time GRAMMY Award winner that predates her birth.
Katie said that The 34-year-old hitmaker and William, 42, “have a great connection” and “are good friends.”
The trio of royals took a now-viral selfie with Taylor before last week’s show, a rare sight for the singer who never meets her fans, no matter how famous, backstage before one of her presentations in Eras.
Prince William and his two eldest children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, took a selfie with Taylor before her performance in London last Friday.
Prince William previously performed on stage with Taylor Swift and Jon Bon Jovi at a charity concert in 2013. The trio is seen here performing Bon Jovi’s hit Livin’ On A Prayer (pictured).
A source has since told the Mail’s Richard Eden that the meeting was initiated by the Blank Space singer, saying: “Taylor Swift was looking forward to meeting the Prince of Wales while she was in London.” They already know each other, so the meeting made sense.’
William and Taylor first met in 2013 at the Centrepoint gala dinner at Kensington Palace in London.
During the 2013 evening, the two ended up on stage with Bon Jovi singing their famous Livin’ on a Prayer. They were photographed smiling as they sang the lyrics to the song while prancing around the stage.
Katie, who was present at the famous karaoke night, said the evening was the perfect start to what would become a long and brilliant friendship.
He added: “There’s clearly a lovely connection between these two. But William isn’t just a fan of Taylor, he’s also a huge fan of her music.”
And the affection isn’t one-sided. For William’s 42nd birthday, Taylor dedicated an entire post to wishing the Prince a happy birthday, including the selfie they took together before one of his performances at Wembley.
The post was particularly special since Taylor’s Instagram is usually reserved for professional photos taken during her Eras shows.
The Karma singer captioned the image: “Happy birthday M8! The London shows are off to a splendid start,” and it quickly garnered almost 10 million likes.
William reportedly told Ronnie Wood that he would only attend a Rolling Stones concert if they brought Taylor, and was also seen excitedly “dancing like dad” to Shake It Off in the crowd on Friday.
The British royal posed for a photo with Taylor Swift and her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, before their show at Wembley last Friday.
William and Taylor photographed together at the Gala Dinner at Kensington Palace in 2013, where the two first cemented their special friendship.
Royal expert Katie Nicholl said the couple have a “great connection” and the Prince of Wales could be the biggest Swiftie in the family.
A second source told ET that Princess Charlotte was the driving force behind making the reunion happen and is the biggest Swiftie in the family.
The source said that Charlotte loved the concert and that the three children understand the value of appreciation and know how lucky they are to know the American singer.
After the concert, the family posted their special selfie on Kate and William’s official Instagram page, captioning the image: “Thank you @taylorswift for a brilliant evening! #LondonTSTheErastour.”
However, Katie did muse over who Swift’s biggest fan might be, suggesting William could be close competition.
Affection exists on both sides of the coin. Taylor Swift’s boyfriend Travis Kelce, who was also present backstage when the British royal enjoyed her VIP meeting with the pop singer.
The Kansas City Chiefs player has been even more excited about the Royals than his Blank Space singer girlfriend, and the Kelce brothers filmed an entire five-minute segment gushing about the Royals on the latest episode of their podcast New Heights.
The sports star even commented that “no other prince” does it like William, and praised the royal for his down-to-earth nature.
At the 2013 event at Kensington Palace, the two sat together and seemed comfortable with each other. The initial closeness would go on to shape a close-knit friendship between the two.
Taylor and William held hands as they sang the famous Bon Jovi song.
“We met royalty, guys,” Travis said. “There were royals at the show. I was lucky enough not to get stuck in traffic, so I got there early and got to meet Prince William. What do you think? His Royal Highness.”
“Dude, he was the coolest motherfucker,” he added. “He was cool”.
“It was amazing,” Jason said, echoing his brother’s sentiments. “He was a good guy.”
He later added: “They were wonderful people, and that’s what it’s all about. They’re part of a monarchy, I guess it’s hard to be a down-to-earth human being, but they showed that.”
Travis, who also made headlines this weekend for joining Taylor on stage for a cameo, gushed: “Tay brought him out of his shell and they broke him down and said he had a great time.”
And I’m like, I don’t know if any other Prince is doing that, you know what I mean?
‘In terms of royalty, they seem to like to sit in the shadows of the show, but he was cool enough to be a part of it. That shows how personable he is!’
The brothers even praised William once again for his fatherly work and said that meeting Princess Charlotte was “the highlight” of the entire evening.
“If anyone is doing it right, it’s Prince William doing it right.” Thank you, Your Royal Highness,” Travis praised.
The footballer’s comments about William’s clear joy at joining the Swifties are a stark comparison to Prince Harry and Meghan’s comparatively miserable appearance at a Beyoncé concert last September.
Meghan was spotted dancing the night away on the Cowboy Carter singer’s Renaissance tour in California, but Prince Harry didn’t look too impressed as he looked down at his phone while the party continued around them.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were among thousands of fans who packed the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
But Harry looked glum and disinterested as the couple were spotted in a private box alongside Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland and Meghan’s Suits co-star and close friend Abigail Spencer.