Prince William Told 'You're the King' in Funny Moment Caught on Camera

Prince William, the Prince of Wales, enjoyed a humorous interaction with a young fan during a two day visit to the country with Kate Middleton on Thursday, which has since been circulated on social media.

William and Kate were made the new Prince and Princess of Wales in September 2022 by King Charles. The title dates back to the 12th century, with Charles being the longest-serving royal to use the title by the time he acceded to the throne after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Since taking on their new roles, William and Kate have made a number of visits to the country to meet with various communities and organizations. The couple had previously made Wales their home, when they moved to Anglesey after their marriage, where William was serving as a search and rescue helicopter pilot.

On Thursday, the couple began a two day visit to the South Wales Valleys and mid Wales region. After taking part in training exercises with the Central Beacons Mountain Rescue Team, which saw them try their hand at abseiling and emergency response exercises, William and Kate stopped at the Dowlais Rugby Club where they met with members of the club as well as community members served by the mountain rescue team.

During an interaction with one of the children included in the engagement, William was seen humorously explaining the distinction between himself and his father, Charles, whose coronation will take place on May 6.

"You're the king!" the child told the prince at one point in their discussion which was captured by news cameras.

"No, I'm not," William responded while laughing. "My father is the king."

The video has been widely shared on social media, with a number of royal fans praising the prince for his response.

"Spoken like a future king," posted one Twitter user. "That is the cutest thing EVER lol children just adore Wm & K [William and Kate]," wrote another.

As the year progresses, the royal couple are expected to undertake increasing engagements in Wales as well as around the U.K. and Commonwealth, as they are now the most senior royals behind the king and queen.

In a statement released from Kensington Palace after assuming his Prince of Wales title, William set out his commitments to the role and the country.

"The Prince and Princess will spend the months and years ahead deepening their relationship with communities across Wales," it read.

"They want to do their part to support the aspirations of the Welsh people and to shine a spotlight on both the challenges and opportunities in front of them. The Prince and Princess look forward to celebrating Wales' proud history and traditions as well as a future that is full of promise. They will seek to live up to the proud contribution that members of the Royal family have made in years past."

Though the couple are popular across Britain, they faced backlash from Welsh nationalists who object to having an English born prince take the Welsh title.

Actor Michael Sheen was among these voices. After criticizing William for supporting the English soccer team ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup while Wales had also qualified, Sheen said on Twitter: "He can, of course, support whoever he likes and as Pres of FA his role makes visit understandable—but surely he sees holding the title Prince of Wales at same time is entirely inappropriate? Not a shred of embarrassment? Or sensitivity to the problem here? #PrinceofWales.

"For those who care the issue is that the title Prince of Wales (PoW) seems inappropriate to be held by anyone not Welsh and this is just an instance of the absurdity. It's not about supporting England or Wales or both."

William responded to the backlash on a visit to the Welsh Senedd soon afterwards, telling officials: "I'm telling everyone I'm supporting both, definitely. I can't lose but I've supported England since I've been quite small. But I support Welsh rugby and that's my kind of way of doing it.

"I happily support Wales over England in the rugby so I've got to be able to play like carefully with my affiliations. I worry otherwise if I suddenly drop England to support Wales then that doesn't look right for the sport either. So I can't do that."

The prince has been patron of the Welsh Rugby Union since 2007. Kate Middleton is currently patron of England rugby, a position she took up after it was relinquished by Prince Harry in 2021.

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

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