Royals

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN - JANUARY 30:  Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambrid...
Chris Jackson/Chris Jackson Collection/Getty Images
10 Times Prince William Playfully Teased Kate Middleton

Don’t worry, she always laughs.

by Jen McGuire

Every relationship needs some sort of touch stone. A common ground, if you will, especially if you are going to be spending the majority of your lives together in the public eye like Prince William and Kate Middleton. For this busy couple, their relationship seems to rely pretty heavily on Prince William teasing Kate Middleton with gentle dad jokes while she laughs. It might not sound like much, but after seeing the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge enjoy a little banter time and again, it really does appear to be working. Especially now that they’re parents of three and his dad jokes are more apropos.

The Duke of Cambridge has a decidedly cheeky sense of humor for a man who is going to be king some day. Especially whenever his wife is around to laugh gamely at his jokes. In fact, he admitted during an engagement interview back in 2010 with the BBC that their ability to tease each other was a big bonus for him from the outset. “The timing is right now, we are both very, very happy,” he said at the time. “We both have a very good sense of humor and we take the mickey out of each other a lot."

More than a decade later, they’re still “taking the mickey” out of each other. And still laughing.

DJ Kate & Her Fresh Prince

During a May 2021 visit to Scotland, the couple dropped in to check out Heavy Sound, an organization that helps at-risk youths by offering them a safe space to spend time on things like music production. When Kate Middleton tried her hand at dropping a beat, her husband said “please stop, that’s hurting my ears,” and of course she laughed.

A Royal YouTube Tutorial

Just in case Kate Middleton wasn’t sure how video cameras worked, Prince William explained in May 2021 at the launch of their official YouTube channel, “OK, you have to be careful what you say because these guys are filming everything.” To which she laughed and replied, “I know!”

Dressed Up Like A Christmas Tree

Pool/Samir Hussein/WireImage/Getty Images

The busy parents of 7-year-old Prince George, 6-year-old Princess Charlotte, and 3-year-old Prince Louis visited military personnel in Cyprus over the Christmas holidays in 2018. And Prince William teased Kate Middleton about her dark green blazer by saying, “My wife is camouflaged against the tree.” In his defense, he wasn’t totally wrong.

Everyone Loves A Giant Spoon

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are notoriously competitive, so Prince William was in his glory when Kate Middleton came in last at the King’s Cup Regatta in 2019. She was gifted with a giant wooden spoon, and he loved it so much he even roasted her on Instagram with the caption, “It's the taking part that counts...” along with a spoon emoji.

Roasting Even When He Loses

Anthony Devlin - PA Images/PA Images/Getty Images

You would think the tables would turn when Prince William’s sailing team lost against Kate Middleton when she sailed with Team New Zealand during their 2014 tour, but nope. He joked that he had been “sabotaged.”

A Banana??

Pool/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Not everyone can pull off yellow, apparently not even the Duchess of Cambridge. At least that was her husband’s opinion; she wore a bright yellow dress first during a visit to Australia in 2014 and then again during a Zoom chat in 2020, and Middleton reportedly told a royal fan, “William says I look like a banana!” Too far, man, too far.

Kiss The Cook

Stephen Pond/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

In June 2016, Prince William and Kate Middleton attended a royal dinner gala at Houghton Hall, close to their country home of Anmer Hall. The duchess told the crowd that "William has to put up with my cooking most of the time," and he doubled down by responding that her cooking “is the reason I’m so skinny.” She laughed. And hopefully told him to cook for himself when he got home.

Dancing King

So I don’t know if Prince William was teasing Kate Middleton or the other way around when the couple were dancing in Tuvalu in 2012, but something was going on there. They were really having their own little moment as they tried their hands (and hips) at the traditional local dance.

A Poster Of Her Beau

Prince William hoped his wife had a poster of him.John Stillwell - PA Images/PA Images/Getty Images

Apparently there was a rumor going around that Kate Middleton had a poster of Prince William on her wall before she met him, and of course he had to tease her about it. Tom Bradby asked the duchess about this alleged poster in their 2010 ITV News engagement interview, and Prince William said, “It wasn’t just one, it was like 10, 20.” She shut him down, “He wishes. No, I had the Levi’s guy on my bedroom wall, not a picture of William. Sorry.”

She’s No Van Gogh

In 2018, both Prince William and Kate Middleton were invited to contribute to an artist’s painting. When Middleton added a tentative brush stroke, Prince William said, “It’s pretty much ruined the picture.” And, as with every other time he teased her, she laughed and laughed.