Prince William takes the children to watch Taylor Swift at Wembley on his birthday
By Victoria Ward
Taylor Swift performed her first concert in London at Wembley Stadium in front of nearly 90,000 fans including Prince William and his three children.
William, who is celebrating his 42nd birthday, is believed to have booked a private box to mark the occasion alongside Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, nine, and Prince Louis, six.
Taylor Swift with Prince William, Prince George and Princess Charlotte before the Eras Tour in London.Credit: Instagram/@princeandprincessofwales
The hugely anticipated gig marks the first of three London dates on Swift’s The Eras Tour.
Other VIP attendees at the sell-out event included Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour party leader, supermodel Cara Delevingne and Bridgerton actress Nicola Coughlan.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce with Prince William, Prince George and Princess Charlotte before the Eras Tour in London.Credit: Instagram/@taylorswift
Sir Keir shared a photo of himself hugging his wife Victoria with thousands of jubilant fans in the background with the caption “‘Swift’ campaign pitstop”.
As she began her three-hour set, Swift said: “You’re making me feel like tonight I get to play my first sold-out show at Wembley Stadium on The Eras Tour.
“What better way to spend a Friday night than in the most exhilarating city in the world?
“There are 88,446 people in this stadium today.”
Multiple fans were seen fainting at the show, with Swift having to interrupt her set four times to try and get security to intervene.
The capital had given the 34-year-old US superstar a hero’s welcome on Friday morning, with the Tube map redesigned in her honour and the Changing of the Guard performing a special rendition of Swift’s 2014 hit Shake it Off at Buckingham Palace.
The royal family tweeted a video of the performing troops on the palace forecourt alongside the caption: “Can’t stop, won’t stop groovin’”.
The post, which went viral, prompted much debate online about which members of the royal family may be Swifties.
In 2013, Taylor Swift, Jon Bon Jovi and Prince William sang at a charity event. Credit: WPA Pool
William’s birthday treat at Wembley comes almost nine years after he followed Swift to the stage “like a puppy” to join her in a rendition of Bon Jovi’s Livin’ on a Prayer at a charity gala.
William was seen adjusting his bow tie and rubbing his hands together nervously as he took to the stage, before leaning in to join in with the chorus, gesturing to the crowd to join in.
He then high-fived Swift mid-performance.
Marking her arrival on Friday morning, Transport for London unveiled a revised map of the London Underground network which replaced the names of regular stations and lines with references to Swift’s music.
Posting a picture on X, formerly Twitter, TfL wrote: “And by the way, I’m going out tonight. Introducing Tube Map (Taylor’s Version).”
Swift is playing 10 more dates in the UK and Ireland, including this weekend’s London shows.
The singer will then head to Dublin before returning to London in August for another set of dates at Wembley.
On Wednesday, she delighted fans by speaking Welsh during a performance in Cardiff.
“Shwmae,” Swift told the crowd in videos circulating on social media, which means hello in English.
“Croeso i daith Eras,” she added, which means: “Welcome to the Eras tour.”
Taylor Swift performing at Wembley Stadium in London on Friday.Credit: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images
Fans had arrived at Wembley in their droves on Friday morning in anticipation of the era-defining performance.
Lilly Gagata, 31, and her sister Shannie, 33, were among those already camped outside the London stadium at 10am, having travelled two hours despite not having a ticket for Friday’s performance.
The pair said they wanted to say they were there when Swift kicked off the run of gigs and also wanted to make sure they did not miss out on any merchandise, which may have sold out by the time they get to see the show in August.
Gagata said: “While we’ve got tickets for August, we wanted to come here a little bit earlier to get the merch early, because when we come here in August we expect to get here quite early.
Taylor Swift is playing a string of shows at Wembley Stadium.Credit: Getty Images
“So, we didn’t want the hassle of going back and forth while queuing for our place and then going to the merch stand.”
Shannie said: “Of course, we want to absorb all of the energy too, the first night in London is like nothing else, so it’s not to be missed.”
The day before her performance at Wembley, two activists from Just Stop Oil were arrested after Just Stop Oil attempted to spray Swift’s private jet at Stansted Airport with orange paint – but failed to find it.
Jennifer Kowalski, 28, and Cole Macdonald, 22, were charged with criminal damage, aggravated trespass and interfering with national infrastructure after allegedly spraying two jets at random using fire extinguishers filled with orange paint.
The pair are accused of causing more than £5000 worth of damages.
Telegraph, London
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