Prince William visits the Irish Guards Chris Jackson/WPA Pool/Shutterstock
A royal mix-up! Prince William kindly corrected a young boy who mistakenly declared the Prince of Wales was the king of England.
William, 40, and wife Princess Kate were visiting the Dowlais Rugby Club in Wales on Thursday, April 27 — handing out pizzas to the Central Beacons Mountain Rescue Team and their families — when the prince sat next to a child who eagerly proclaimed him to be the monarch.
“You’re the king!” the young boy announced as William took a seat next to him in the booth.
**The prince replied, “No, I’m not — not me!” before explaining, “My father is.” William is first in line to the throne, followed by son Prince George, 9. William’s father, King Charles III, immediately ascended the throne upon Queen Elizabeth II’s death at age 96 in September 2022, and will be honored with an official coronation next month.
Prince William’s sweet moment with the child is reminiscent of the time his estranged brother, Prince Harry, was once asked by a young boy if he would ever be king.
In 2016, the Duke of Sussex, 38, was taking part in the Sky Sports series Game Changers when a 9-year-old boy posed the important query.
“Are you ever going to be king?” the student asked Harry — who is currently fifth in line to the throne, behind William, George, and William and Kate’s younger children, Princess Charlotte, 7, and Prince Louis, 5 — laughed out loud.
“That’s the question everybody wanted — let’s be honest,” the Archewell cofounder joked at the time. “You’ll be glad to know, probably not!”
Four years later, Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle — whom he wed in May 2018 — stepped down from their duties as senior royals. The couple left the U.K. for California, where they are raising son Archie, 3, and daughter Lilibet, 22 months.
Since making their departure in 2020, the Sussexes have been at odds with the royal family. The tension has only grown worse over the past year, which saw the duo speak out against The Firm in their December 2022 Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan, as well as in Harry’s tell-all memoir, Spare, which was released in January.
Despite the drama, Harry is headed to London to celebrate his father’s coronation next month. Meghan, 41, will stay home in California with Archie and Lili, Buckingham Palace announced earlier this month. (Archie’s 4th birthday falls on the same day Charles will be crowned king.)
“Meghan is planning something really low-key to celebrate Archie’s birthday,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly on April 21. “Since Harry won’t be able to attend, she just wants to do something intimate with family and a few very close friends.”
Harry, for his part, is going to make his time in London “a fly-in visit,” royal expert Nick Bullen exclusively told Us earlier this month.
“I think he’ll be nervous about how the family [will] react to him, and I think it’s pretty clear that he’s gonna minimize the amount of time that he’s in London,” the editor-in-chief of True Royalty TV told Us. “He’s already said that he wants to be back for Archie’s birthday that afternoon, that evening.”
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While Charles, 74, is “sad” that his daughter-in-law won’t be in attendance, a source exclusively told Us — the king “was hoping the coronation would be a chance to better connect and maintain healing between [them],” the insider noted — another source shared that the king was “thrilled” that Harry will be there.
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