Prince William’s not a normal prince—he’s a cool prince. On Thursday, the royal visited the Ulster University’s Belfast City Campus Centre, where he meet with teachers and students and became a TikTok star in the process.
One student at the university named Samantha Johnson, made a TikTok asking William to explain to her teacher that he was the reason she would be late to her lecture. In the clip, the prince agreed to vouch for her and explain her tardiness to her professor. “Just tell her why we’re late,” Johnson says to William. “Just say sorry we’re late,” a friend off camera adds. When William asks the teacher’s name, Johnson says, “Lesley.”
William then looks into the camera, and asks, “Are you recording?,” before he delivers the message. “Lesley, I’m very sorry we’re late, but see we caught up, and they wouldn’t believe you were here, so just say hi,” he says as the students laugh and thank him.
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The post has since gone viral and has already amassed 4.3 million views and over 700,000 likes in one day. One user commented, “That’s a royal pardon,” with another fan adding, “Can’t argue with a royal pardon.”
A separate commenter jokingly added, “He said ‘we’re late’ fella is coming with you.”
Elsewhere during the visit, William proved his status as a fun prince by reliving an old hobby of his that his wife Kate Middleton disapproves of: motorcycling. While visiting the Virtual Production Studio at the university, William hopped on a stationary motorcycle that was set up against a backdrop before reminiscing about the days when he would burn rubber on his bike.
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“Any excuse to get on a motorbike!. I feel like someone needs to take this for a real spin,” the prince said, per Hello!, before jokingly asking if it would be possible to take off the stand.
Back in 2015, Middleton made her disdain for his passion known publicly during a visit to Dundee, Scotland. “He’s still riding it,” she said at the time. “It always fills me with horror when he goes out on it. I’m terrified. Hopefully I’m going to keep George off of it.”
A few years later, William admitted that he had given up biking as a result of becoming a father. “I’m a dad of three. I have to tone it down,” he said. “I miss the big trips. For me, biking was always about being with everybody else.”
