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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Guardian staff and agency

Prince of Wales thanks Taylor Swift for ‘great evening’ at London show

Taylor Swift takes a selfie backstage with William, George and Charlotte
Taylor Swift takes a selfie backstage with William, George and Charlotte. Photograph: @princeandprincessofwales/Instagram

The Prince of Wales has thanked Taylor Swift for a “great evening” after he celebrated his birthday at her Wembley gig on Friday night.

Kensington Palace posted a picture on social media of Swift taking a selfie with William, Prince George and Princess Charlotte backstage before the concert.

“Thank you taylorswift13 for a great evening!” the Palace’s social media post said.

The Shake It Off singer then posted a selfie of herself with William, the children and her boyfriend, Travis Kelce.

“Happy Bday M8! London shows are off to a splendid start,” her post read.

The Princess of Wales stayed at home with Prince Louis.

The Labour leader, Keir Starmer, also attended the concert, one of a series at the venue as part of the pop star’s record-breaking Eras tour.

He shared a photograph of himself and his wife, Victoria, on X.

Asked about the gig on the campaign trail in south London, he said: “She was fantastic. Absolutely fantastic.”

He added: “I know I will be asked what is my favourite song and I am not going to pretend I have got every album and know every song, although Change is the one for obvious reasons.”

The Labour manifesto, entitled Change, shares its name with a song from Swift’s 2008 album Fearless.

He added: “What I learned last night is my daughter knows every album, every song, and every word of every song, and she wasn’t alone among the teenage girls who were there. It was utterly brilliant.”

Other celebrities at the gig included the Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan and Queer Eye’s Jonathan Van Ness. They joined Kelce, his brother Jason and their parents, as well as Swift’s parents, Andrea and Scott, as she performed for almost 90,000 people.

London has been hit by Swiftmania. A special tube map and Taylor trail were created to herald her arrival.

It was revealed on Thursday that Swift fans are expected to boost the London economy by £300m as the capital hosts more Eras tour shows than any other city in the world, with nearly 640,000 people expected to attend across the eight dates.

Swift has already played shows in Edinburgh, Liverpool and Cardiff and will take to the stage at Wembley again on Saturday and Sunday before the tour moves on to Dublin.

She will return to London again for five nights in August.

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