Prince William Reveals “Cringing” Story with Taylor Swift and Jon Bon Jovi

On Monday (December 6), the U.K.’s Prince William revealed a story that still makes him cringe, he says.

Talking on the Apple Fitness+ series, Time To Walk, the prince described an evening when he got on stage with singer Taylor Swift and rocker Jon Bon Jovi during a fundraising event in the U.K. at Kensington Palace in 2013.

Though Prince William says he tries to “be charming and interactive” with guests, on this particular occasion, he was tongue-tied. He was sitting next to Swift when all heck broke loose.

“Little did I think what was going to happen next. I’m sitting next to Taylor Swift. She’s on my left. And after Jon [Bon Jovi] does his first song, there’s a pause, and she turns to me. She puts her hand on my arm, looks me in the eye and says, ‘Come on, William. Let’s go and sing,’” the royal said. “To this day, I still do not know what came over me,” he added.

“Honestly, even now I’m cringing at what happened next, and I don’t understand why I gave in. If Taylor Swift looks you in the eye, touches your arm and says, ’Come with me,” you basically do what she says. I got up like a puppy and went, ‘Yeah, OK, that seems like a great idea ― I’ll follow you,’” he said.

“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. I’m thinking to myself, ‘Am I standing on the stage singing ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’ when I don’t even know the words?’”

The rest of the audience, the prince says, helped him through. “I thought, ‘Well, if they’re enjoying it, then the night is for them,” he recalled. “So sod it. I can’t be the doofus who’s going to ruin it for everyone.’

The Prince “was trying to keep myself composed on the outside,” but on the inside, there was a lot of sweating.

“A lot of people might think that I’m comfortable on stage,” he said. “When I do speeches and things like that, I’ve done so many now, they’re not a problem. But I’ve not done singing.”

Prince William also talked about listening to the English rock band AC/DC to get through his days—particularly the band’s song, “Thunderstruck.”

“I have to say the first time I put it on, and I’ve heard it a million times now, I was kind of like, ‘Well, this is quite heavy for a Monday morning,’ he shared.

“But now when I listen to it, it’s the best tonic for a Monday morning.” The song, he added, “absolutely wakes you up [and makes] ou feel like you can take on anything and anyone.”

You can listen to Prince William share his stories on Time to Walk, which he tweeted about on his and his wife’s official page, writing, “Take some #TimeToWalk today on Apple Music+ and also on Apple Music 1 on @AppleMusic at the following times:   Airing 1: 8 am London / 12am LA / 7 pm Sydney Airing 2: 8 am LA / 4 pm London / 3 am Sydney Airing 3: 9 pm London / 1 pm LA / 8 am Sydney (Tuesday 7th December).”