Prince William’s NSFW Joke Goes Viral

Prince William’s not safe for work (NSFW) joke cracked during an interview, which left Princess Kate and radio hosts in stitches, has gone viral after footage from a 2023 engagement resurfaced on X (formerly Twitter).

William and Kate have seen an increased focus from the public as 2024 has started, both following Kate’s withdrawal from public life due to abdominal surgery in January and then the announcement that she is receiving treatment following a cancer diagnosis last month.

As fans have taken to social media to send messages of support to the princess, and to William who has reduced his working output to be with his wife and three children, a number have shared archive clips and photographs reflecting on past appearances made by the couple.

One clip which has recently resurfaced, in which William provides a risqué response to a question asking which emoji he considers to be his favorite, has received more than 5 million views in less than 24 hours.

Uploaded by the popular X account, historyinmemes, on April 2, the footage was captured at an engagement in the city of Birmingham, England, in October 2023, marking World Mental Health Day.

As part of the royals’ visit to the city, they took part in a rare joint interview for BBC Radio 1 in which they were asked a series of quickfire questions by show hosts Jordan North and Vick Hope.

When asked by Hope “what’s you’re most used emoji,” William joked that clarification was needed as to whether it was a “clean” question, hinting that the aubergine [eggplant]—which is commonly used as a pictorial substitute for an element of the male anatomy—could feature on the list.

“Is this a clean thing or is this a family one?” he said. “I’ve been told not to say the aubergine so I’ve got to pick something else…it would have been the aubergine but I’m saying now—because I’ve got to be all grown up—it’s the one where the eyes go up and down and the mouth’s out…the crazy one.”

This caused Kate to break into a fit of giggles before she could offer her own response. “Mine’s probably got to be the heart with then the crying emoji—the sort of hysterical laughing [one] when things have gone wrong,” she said.

The X video, captioned “Well that is the last answer I expected from Prince William…” has received over 700 retweets and 300 comments, so far, many of which have praised the royal for his sense of humor.

“Never did I think I would hear a future king say that his favorite emoji is aubergine 🍆,” wrote one user.

“I like the levity and sense of humor. Well said,” posted another, with a further comment reading: “I was today years old when I learned that the English call eggplants, aubergines.”

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek‘s royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek‘s The Royals Facebook page.

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