Taylor Swift was joined by a few special guests at her London show on Friday: Prince William and his two eldest children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte. The group was joined by Swift’s boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
“Happy Bday M8! London shows are off to a splendid start,” Swift tweeted along with three emoji: the United Kingdom flag, the United States flag and a handshake. The concert took place on Prince William’s 42nd birthday.
On the Prince and Princess of Wales’ official social accounts, a second photo featuring Swift, William, Charlotte and George was also shared. The caption read, “Thank you @taylorswift13 for a great evening! #LondonTSTheErastour.”
Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, did not join her family at the show as she continues to receive treatment for cancer. The concert took place one week after Middleton attended Trooping the Colour, her first public appearance since she revealed her diagnosis in March.
Swift and the Prince of Wales have a friendship dating back to at least 2013, when the pair joined Bon Jovi onstage at the Centrepoint Gala Dinner and performed “Livin’ on a Prayer.”
The idea was Swift’s, frontman Jon Bon Jovi later told the Independent. “It was all her,” he said. “She literally grabbed him by the arm and ran up on stage, and they both knew the words and sang along.”
In 2014, Swift told Graham Norton that before he began the song, Bon Jovi looked at William and said, “I hear you like to do this at karaoke night.” The royal panicked, she said, and he turned toward her and asked her to come on stage and sing with him.
“I was very nervous for the whole thing, because I was at Kensington Palace and it was my first royal encounter of sorts,” she added.
William had a slightly different retelling of his own in 2021 on an episode of the Apple Fitness+ “Time to Walk” podcast. He said that after Bon Jovi performed their first song, Swift turned to him and said they should go on stage 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. 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,” he explained.
“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… when I don’t even know the words?’”
