Prince William's carefree dance moves have been compared to those of his 6-year-old son, Prince Louis, after the royal made a surprise appearance at a London stop of Taylor Swift's Eras tour last month.
William attended the event with his two eldest children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte—who are 10 and 9 years old, respectively—at Wembley Stadium on June 21, his 42nd birthday.
The event saw the royal group let loose after a tense start to 2024, which has been overshadowed by the cancer diagnoses of King Charles III and Kate, the Princess of Wales.
William's night out with George and Charlotte at the Taylor Swift concert was widely discussed online, particularly after footage of the royal dancing to the pop star's "Shake It Off" was shared by a fellow attendee.
On June 25, TikTok user @the_royal_famili8 uploaded a compilation of clips showing George, Charlotte and Kate "dancing quietly" compared to William's and Louis' more noticeable moves. The video has gone viral, receiving 1.3 million views on the platform.
@the_royal_famili8 Kate George and Charlotte dancing quietly but William and Louis dancing in William and louis a very funny way#theroyalfamily #prince #princess #princessofwales #princeofwales #princesskate #katemiddleton #princewilliam #princegeorge #princesscharlotte #princelouis #dancing #funny ♬ sonido original - ✨The royal family 👑🇬🇧💂♀️
The video includes footage of Kate dancing in a traditional Belizean Garifuna festival during a visit to the Caribbean in 2022, Charlotte moving to music during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations the same year, and George dancing at the coronation concert for Charles in 2023.
The clip has received more than 143,000 likes and 300 comments, many of which have praised William and the Wales family for their lighthearted appearances in public.
Kate stepped out of the public eye at the beginning of the year amid her health concerns, and William scaled down his public appearances to support his wife and their three children.
The Princess of Wales and the king made a return to royal ceremonial duty on June 15, attending the Trooping the Colour celebrations while still receiving cancer treatment. The day followed a positive update from Kate, who said that while not yet "out of the woods," she felt well enough to begin working from home and making more public appearances.
"The person who got that video of Prince William dancing, needs to be rewarded something really great, because they by far captured the best moment of the year," one user wrote in the video's comments section.
"I wondered where Louis had learnt it from. William dances at home," another added.
Another user said, "Like father like son is the perfect way to describe this!"
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
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About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
