Friday night at Wembley Stadium saw something rarer than a peaceful family dinner at Buckingham Palace. Taylor Swift not only managed to sell out her Eras Tour at the 90,000-plus capacity venue, she also managed to unite the Royal Family, Deadpool, and thousands of Swifties with one particularly regal selfie.
Prince William, evidently spending his 42nd birthday in the most diplomatically sound way possible, attended Swift’s London concert accompanied by children George and Charlotte. Based on various dance videos circling social media with the velocity of royal gossip, the Prince appeared to be shaking it off with distinctly less reserve than one might expect from a monarch-in-waiting. Somewhere in the great annals of royal protocol, this moment may require a footnote.
The festivities did not end with mere toe-tapping. Swift herself posted a photo that sent social platforms spiraling, featuring the pop juggernaut alongside Prince William and his two kids. Also present were Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman who somehow looked both delighted and slightly confused, like two dads chaperoning a field trip to planet glitter.
“Happy Bday M8! London shows are off to a splendid start,” Swift wrote underneath the shot, presumably moments before the internet volunteered to be knighted if it meant joining that group photo.
The selfie now ranks among the most diplomatically significant group pictures not taken at a G7 summit. According to Kensington Palace, the younger royals were overjoyed meeting Swift backstage and one might reasonably assume this trumps most excursions to Balmoral.
If Prince William’s enthusiastic rendition of “Shake It Off” is anything to go by, diplomacy under the next monarch might be slightly more choreographed and significantly more glittery.
One wonders how Meghan’s Spotify career would have gone with a Taylor feature.