Taylor Swift’s meeting with Prince William, Prince George and Princess Charlotte last weekend certainly impressed the pop superstar’s boyfriend, Travis Kelce.
The American football player pithily described our future king as ‘the coolest motherf*****’, adding that George, ten, and Charlotte, nine, were ‘an absolute delight’.
But Harry and Meghan might be less impressed by the encounter, which took place at Wembley Stadium during the singer’s hugely popular Eras Tour.
Cheerleaders for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have since claimed that, in attending such a high-profile concert, William was merely copying the California-based couple, who have themselves become friendly with another US pop singer, Beyonce.
Branding the meeting with Swift a ‘carefully orchestrated PR move’, one prominent American commentator with 1.3 million followers on TikTok declared: ‘I just want everyone to say, “Thank you, Meghan” for being the first member of the British Royal Family to really break out of their historic formula when it comes to being photographed with celebrities and, of course, getting dragged over the coals for it.’
However, royal insiders tell me that the truth could not be more different.
‘Taylor Swift was keen to meet the Prince of Wales while she was in London,’ a source tells me. ‘They already know each other, so the meeting made sense.’
Swift sang at Kensington Palace, London home of William and Catherine, in 2013. During that performance – part of a fundraising concert for the homelessness charity Centrepoint – William memorably joined Swift and rock star Jon Bon Jovi on stage.
There is something else worth remembering, too: the royal source is too diplomatic to point it out but, at Wembley, Taylor Swift was paying court to the Royal Family. In Harry and Meghan’s case, they are the ones paying court to showbusiness royalty.
There was a vivid illustration of this back in 2019 when, still part of The Firm, the couple attended the London premiere of The Lion King.
Harry and his American wife, a former actress of course, were seen on camera speaking to some of Hollywood’s most influential figures. Video footage showed the Duke praising Meghan’s voiceover skills to the film’s director, Jon Favreau, as Beyonce and her husband, the rapper Jay-Z, looked on.
During the exchange, Beyonce was seen covering her face before, seeming uncomfortable, looking away. Social media users poked fun at the moment, suggesting that the singer was cringing.
In the clip, Harry told Favreau: ‘If anyone needs any extra voiceover work…’ before Meghan interrupts and jokes: ‘That’s really why we’re here – it’s the pitch!’
