Travis Kelce Had a Serious Case of Imposter Syndrome When He Met Prince William Alongside Girlfriend Taylor Swift
"Why am I here and why am I even allowed to talk to these individuals?"


Kansas City Chiefs tight end and 3-time Super Bowl champion Travis Kelce had a serious case of Imposter Syndrome™ when he met Prince William backstage at his girlfriend Taylor Swift's "Eras Tour" concert in London.
In a recent interview with Extra, the NFL star's beloved mom, Donna Kelce, dished on how her son felt when he met the future King of England and two of his three children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte.
"(Travis) said that ‘When you meet people like that, you know when the royals come in or Paul McCartney or Hugh Grant … somebody's in the suite, you're just like, who in this picture doesn't fit?" the proud mom explained at the time. "'Why am I here and why am I even allowed to talk to these individuals? It just doesn't seem right.’"
Forever the supportive parent, she went on to say that despite her son feeling out-of-place among both pop and English royalty, she believes "he's handling it pretty well"..."it" being the influx of media attention he has received since becoming Mr. Taylor Swift.
"He's a pretty friendly guy," Donna Kelce added.
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In a previous episode of his hit, multi-million dollar podcast New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce, Kelce shared—in his own words—what it was like to meet a member of the royal family.
"Dude, he was the coolest motherf*****. He was awesome," the athlete said of Prince William. "They were an absolute delight to meet.”
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The tight end went on to say that despite Prince William being down-to-earth, he wasn't sure how he should properly greet the royal or his children.
“[I] wasn't sure if I was supposed to, like, bow to them, curtsy, just be an American idiot and shake their hand," he explained to his older brother, Jason Kelce, at a time.
Of course, Kelce is also arguably being modest. During Swift's London shows, the NFL star appeared on stage alongside his girlfriend to the delight of Swifties the world over. The athlete flawlessly pulled off the surprise performance, despite being terrified that he would accidentally drop his girlfriend in front of, well, the world.
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While Kelce is not the most influential pop star on the planet or a member of the royal family, he is certainly expanding his so-called empire well beyond the football field.
Not only is Kelce playing his 12th season with the Kansas City Chiefs, Kelce is also making his foray into the entertainment industry, appearing in Ryan Murphy's FX Series 'Grotesquerie' and hosting Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?, a new game show.

Danielle Campoamor is Marie Claire's weekend editor covering all things news, celebrity, politics, culture, live events, and more. In addition, she is an award-winning freelance writer and former NBC journalist with over a decade of digital media experience covering mental health, reproductive justice, abortion access, maternal mortality, gun violence, climate change, politics, celebrity news, culture, online trends, wellness, gender-based violence and other feminist issues. You can find her work in The New York Times, Washington Post, TIME, New York Magazine, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, TODAY, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, InStyle, Playboy, Teen Vogue, Glamour, The Daily Beast, Mother Jones, Prism, Newsweek, Slate, HuffPost and more. She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband and their two feral sons. When she is not writing, editing or doom scrolling she enjoys reading, cooking, debating current events and politics, traveling to Seattle to see her dear friends and losing Pokémon battles against her ruthless offspring. You can find her on X, Instagram, Threads, Facebook and all the places.
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