Prince William jokes he tried to shove Travis Kelce out of his Taylor Swift selfie

Prince William has finally explained why Travis Kelce looks so thrilled in that now-infamous Eras Tour selfie — and it turns out the royal was trying to get rid of him the whole time.

Speaking during a surprise appearance on “The Graham Norton Show,” the Prince of Wales, 44, recalled his backstage meeting with Taylor Swift during the London stop of her tour in June 2024, when he brought along two of his children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte.

“Travis kept coming back in, and I couldn’t work out why he kept coming back in,” William joked. “I was trying to move him out so it was just me and Taylor and the children!”

The photo in question, shared to Swift’s Instagram at the time, shows the singer front and center with William and the kids huddled in close — and Kelce beaming near the back of the lineup, his hand resting on William’s back. William eventually got his way, snapping a second selfie with just Swift and the children laughing up at the camera.

William missed the romantic significance

As it happens, that group shot marked a milestone neither William — nor, apparently, anyone outside Swift’s inner circle — realized in the moment: it was the first time she had ever posted Kelce on her Instagram page.

“I wasn’t aware [of the significance of the selfie] until recently,” the future king admitted. “I hadn’t appreciated the significance.”

The two went on to get engaged in August 2025 and married in a star-studded ceremony at New York City’s Madison Square Garden in July. William and Kate Middleton, despite speculation, did not attend the wedding.

Kelce, for his part, has only ever spoken warmly of the meeting. On his “New Heights” podcast, he told William, “That was honestly one of the coolest moments ever, was meeting you and the little ones that day.”