If you were on the internet in June 2024, it was hard to escape the frenzy surrounding a certain Instagram hard-launch. After the opening night of her 8-show Eras Tour run at London’s Wembley Stadium, Taylor Swift took to her socials to give a birthday shoutout to a royally special guest. Prince William, it turned out, celebrated his 42nd at the concert with his two eldest children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte. But as if a Swift-royal family meet-up wasn’t enough cause for commotion, the selfie they took also featured Travis Kelce—and doubled as the first photo the showgirl posted with her future husband.
Reflecting on the experience over two years later, the prince admitted he did not realize the significance of the photo “until recently,” and that he had actually initially tried to nudge the NFL player out of the way. “I hadn’t appreciated the significance,” he revealed during a surprise appearance on The Graham Norton Show. “Actually, I was trying to move him out of the photo, but Travis kept coming back in. I couldn’t work out why he kept coming back in. I was trying to move him out so it was just me and Taylor and the children.”
“This is when they went photo official,” Norton explained, to which William replied, “Apparently.”
Taylor Swift and Prince William performing during the Winter Whites Gala in November 2013.
Since then, the prince and the Chiefs player have gotten to know each other, with the future king even making an appearance on the Kelce brothers’ podcast, New Heights. The episode aired on July 3, 2026—the same day as the T&T wedding at New York City’s Madison Square Garden.