Prince William Is Not Pleased When He Asks a Little Kid to Guess His Age at a Royal Engagement and Gets His (Very Candid) Response: “I’m Not That Old”

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published 5 November 2023

Okay, so in all fairness, this question is a dangerous one to pose, especially to young children—but Prince William went for it anyway and asked a group of schoolkids in Scotland to guess his age while on an engagement this week.

The Prince and Princess of Wales were visiting Burghead Primary School in Moray when the lighthearted exchange happened. While on a walkabout, taking questions from the youngsters, William (who, for the record, is 41) was asked by a child how old he was, to which he asked the child to guess his age. The (very brave) kid said he thought William looked 57, to which “the heir to the throne looked shocked and revealed his real age,” The Mirror reports.

“I’m not that old,” William said, playing up the horror at being aged by 16 years in a single instant.

“While the prince fielded unflattering questions about his aging appearance, the Princess of Wales volunteered to time a bike race between some of the other children,” The Mirror reports. (The “other duties as assigned” of being a prince—take “unflattering questions about your aging appearance” on the chin.)

Some other questions fielded at William by pupils included whether William brought any soldiers from the King’s Guard with him.

William and Kate sported helmets and rode bikes themselves, biking through ramps in the community gardens as some cheered “Go on, William.”

By the way, this is not the first time that age has come up at a royal engagement for the couple. Back in June, it was Kate’s turn to be asked about her age, telling a little girl at an event in London “I’m 41. Don’t tell anyone.”

William and Kate’s visit to Moray was undertaken to highlight work done by Outfit Moray, which arranges outdoor learning and adventures like mountain biking for young people to boost their confidence, The Telegraph reports.

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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.

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