Prince William may not be on the throne yet, but he’s “king” of winning over young people. How does the Prince of Wales do it? It’s not his jokes or viral dance moves. A royal commentator says it has everything to do with William’s apparent attitude toward taking selfies with members of the public. Spoiler: William poses for selfies a lot.
Prince William has embraced selfies
According to Emily Ferguson, Express royal editor, William’s willingness to pose for selfies during public appearances is a marked shift for the future king. “William appears to be taking a new approach to public engagements,” Ferguson said before recalling what happened when the royal father of three visited Estonia in March 2025.
“On the first day of his trip,” the commentator said of William, “he fully embraced the crowds and appeared to revel in the dozens of requests for selfies, happily taking people’s phones to take the snap himself.”
Ferguson went on to suggest that selfies are a sign William has become more comfortable meeting members of the public. “The prince always used to spend time greeting well-wishers but never with the same enthusiasm as his father [King Charles III],” she said. “But that’s changed in recent months. William is spending longer and longer on walkabouts and is more than happy to pose for endless pictures.”
Selfies could be his attempt at making the British royal family more relatable
Ferguson went on to call William “the newly crowned ‘selfie king,’” saying the 42-year-old is welcoming younger generations. “His readiness to appear in snaps and share selfie-style video messages to his social media platforms shows the prince is embracing the new TikTok generation who prefer visual storytelling,” she said.
But what’s driving it? A potential desire to make the royal family more relatable. Ferguson explained that William’s decision to ditch his grandmother the late Queen Elizabeth [II]‘s “no selfies” rule might be about making the “Firm” more popular among young people.
“William knows all too well that there is a sharp generational divide in support for the monarchy, with young people much less inclined to support it,” Ferguson said. “Sources have made no secret of the future king’s desire to win over Gen-Z and even younger people. And perhaps his newfound love of selfies is his attempt to do just that.”
William’s selfie with Taylor Swif thelped him and Kate Middleton get more followers
Selfies aren’t just a way for William to connect with younger members of the public. They are also a way for him—and his wife Kate Middleton—to amass a bigger online following. That’s what happened in June 2024 when the pair’s two oldest children, Prince George, 11, and Princess Charlotte, 9, went to Swift’s Eras concert with their dad on his birthday.
The royals took a selfie with Swift backstage at Wembley Stadium in London, England. The snap later went up on the Prince and Princess of Wales’s Instagram. Meanwhile, Swift posted a selfie of the group with the addition of her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, to her account.
A study at the time determined that William and Kate gained upwards of 200,000 Instagram followers—in a weekend—all because of the selfie. It included a 3 percent increase in followers from May to June of that year, with more than two-fifths hitting the “follow” button after Swift’s concert. So, needless to say, selfies definitely work in William’s favor.
