Prince William may be used to navigating royal engagements, but getting Travis Kelce out of a photograph proved to be a challenge he could not overcome.
During a surprise appearance on The Graham Norton Show, the Prince of Wales revisited one of the most talked-about celebrity photographs of 2024: the backstage selfie featuring himself, his children Prince George and Princess Charlotte, Taylor Swift and her then-boyfriend, NFL star Kelce.
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The photograph was taken in June 2024, when Swift brought her Eras Tour to London's Wembley Stadium. William attended the concert with his two eldest children to celebrate his 42nd birthday, and the group met the singer backstage after the show.
What William apparently did not realise at the time was that the picture would become a major moment in Swift and Kelce's public relationship.
When Swift posted the image to her Instagram account the following morning, it marked the first time she had shared a photograph of the football player on her main Instagram feed.
Reflecting on the encounter during his television appearance, William admitted that he had not understood the significance of the moment.
“I hadn’t appreciated the significance,” William said on the show, “and actually, I was trying to move him out of the photo.”
The person he was trying to move was Kelce, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end, who stands 6-foot-5 and weighs around 250 pounds. William, who is approximately 6-foot-3, explained that the American football player kept finding his way back into the picture.
“Travis kept coming back in, and I couldn’t work out why he kept coming back in,” Prince William said. “I was trying to move him out so it was just me and Taylor and the children.”
The anecdote offered a lighthearted glimpse into a meeting that brought together two very different worlds: the British royal family and two of the biggest names in American entertainment and sport.
How the royal selfie became a viral moment
The original photograph was more than a celebrity snapshot. Swift's decision to share it publicly attracted particular attention because she and Kelce had kept much of their relationship relatively private on social media during their first year together.
Swift captioned the image: “Happy Bday M8! London shows are off to a splendid start”
The post featured William, George and Charlotte alongside Swift and Kelce, giving fans a rare look at the royal children meeting one of the world's most famous pop stars.
Kensington Palace also shared a photograph from the encounter, thanking Swift for the evening.
The meeting came during the opening night of Swift's London performances in June 2024. The concerts attracted enormous interest, and William's attendance added another headline-making element to an already high-profile event.
For Swift's fans, however, the appearance of Kelce in the selfie was especially notable. The couple had been linked since 2023, after Kelce publicly discussed trying to give Swift a friendship bracelet bearing his phone number.
By June 2024, their relationship had become a regular topic of discussion among fans of both the singer and the NFL.
William's story also gave the public a new perspective on the photograph. Rather than deliberately arranging a moment to make Swift and Kelce's relationship public, the prince said he had simply been trying to get a picture with the singer and his children.
Kelce's repeated return to the frame meant the final image included all five of them, turning an apparently ordinary backstage encounter into a lasting piece of pop-culture history.
William's appearance on The Graham Norton Show was itself a notable occasion, as he became the first member of the British royal family to appear on the programme.
The special episode focused primarily on his Earthshot Prize environmental initiative, although the conversation also touched on his family life and interests outside royal duties.
The prince's recollection has since added another amusing chapter to the story of the famous selfie. William may have wanted a photograph featuring just himself, Swift and his children, but Kelce's persistence ensured the NFL star remained in the frame.
And, judging by the photograph's lasting popularity, the prince's unsuccessful attempt to move him out may have helped create an even more memorable moment.