Prince William will never forget this one moment in his life.
While appearing on the special Christmas episode of Apple Fitness+’s Time To Walk series, the 39-year-old royal opened up about some little-known details about his life while (obviously) walking around the Sandringham Estate. And during the chat at one point, he specifically looked back on the famous spur-of-the-moment performance at the Centrepoint charity event at Kensington Palace in 2013, where he hopped on stage to sing Livin’ on a Prayer with Taylor Swift and Jon Bon Jovi. Yeah, that actually happened! If you forgot or somehow never seen the collab, take a look at it (below):
According to People, his royal aides claimed the impromptu show was completely “off the cuff” at the time. But now, Prince William is spilling the tea on how the moment came to be:
“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.”
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The Duke of Cambridge 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.’”
And somehow he was convinced by the All Too Well crooner to get up and go on stage:
“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.’”
One could say he was enchanted to meet her! Prince William then added how he was “in a trance” when he joined the singers — but soon realized he didn’t even know the lyrics:
“’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.’ 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.”
Despite his years of experience being in front of crowds, the father of three confessed he was totally unprepared to sing in front of the audience:
“Now, a lot of people might think that I’m comfortable on stage. When I do speeches and things like that, I’ve done so many now, they’re not a problem. But I’ve not done singing. At times, when you’re taken out of your comfort zone, you’ve got to roll with it.”
So true! But this basically confirmed Prince William is a Swiftie, right?
Elsewhere in the episode, Prince William also recalled a fond memory about singing in the car with his mom, Princess Diana, who would play the song The Best by Tina Turner when she dropped him and Prince Harry off at school. He shared, per People:
“When I was younger, Harry and I, we were at boarding school. And my mother used to play all sorts of songs to kind of while away the anxiety of going back to school. And one of the songs I massively remember and has stuck with me all this time, and I still, to this day, still quite enjoy secretly, is Tina Turner’s ‘The Best’ because sitting in the backseat, singing away, it felt like a real family moment. And my mother, she’d be driving along, singing at the top of her voice. And we’d even get the policeman in the car, he’d be occasionally singing along, as well.”
Today, that track still holds a special place in his heart:
“When I listen to it now, it takes me back to those car rides and brings back lots of memories of my mother.”
A very touching memory…
Reactions to the stories Prince William looked back on, Perezcious readers? Are you still surprised he got up on stage to sing? Let us know in the comments (below)!
[Image via Ivan Nikolov/WENN, MEGA/WENN, WENN/Avalon]
The post Prince William Recalls How Taylor Swift Convinced Him To Sing On Stage With Her & Bon Jovi: ‘I Still Do Not Know What Came Over Me’ appeared first on Perez Hilton.