I do tend to ignore Prince William when he’s doing solo events, which happens with more frequency this year. William has quietly picked up the pace, royal-work-wise, in 2018. It’s not that I’ve been ignoring William in general, it’s just that photos of Solo Bill aren’t as exciting, generally speaking. Same with Prince Harry, honestly – the coverage is always going to be more interesting when their wives are around. So I sort of ignored the fact that William attended the Submariners’ Remembrance Service and Parade on Sunday. November is typically the month when British royals mark the service and sacrifices of the British military, and there will be many appearances this month with William, Harry and even Kate and Meghan. Anyway, at this Submariners’ Remembrance Service, William joined other military men in taking a swig from a flask to toast “absent friends.” That’s when William became the victim of a prank?
During the ceremony, William joined others in toasting to “absent friends” and taking a swig out of a silver flask. However, Prince William later revealed at the reception that someone pulled a prank on him — by replacing the rum with a Jägerbomb, a mix of Jägermeister and an energy drink.
“That would have sorted me out,” he joked. “I was expecting rum and got a Jägerbomb!” William recounted the story again, telling those gathered, “I’ll never be asked twice about drinking, it’s very important. They tried to put a Jägerbomb in it! Imagine my surprise; burnt my throat!”
The lighthearted moment came in an otherwise solemn ceremony outside Middle Temple Hall in London. William, dressed in a navy coat adorned with military accolades on his lapel, laid a wreath of poppies at the foot of military drums before stepping back and lowering his head in remembrance. The red flowers are symbols used to commemorate military personnel who have died in war, and the prince also wore one on his jacket.
What’s the weirdest part of this story, that someone “pranked” William by putting a Jägerbomb in the flask, or that he wouldn’t shut up about it? It’s strange, right? This was a remembrance service, which is almost a memorial service. It’s supposed to be a somber, respectful event honoring those men (and women?) who gave the ultimate sacrifice to their country. And someone pranked a prince by handing him a flask full of Jägerbomb, and Will thought it was so funny that he went around telling people. So… odd.
Meanwhile, William, Kate, Harry and Meghan will likely all attend the Festival of Remembrance Service at Royal Albert Hall this Saturday, just FYI. My guess is that will not be Meghan’s only appearance at a Remembrance event.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red and Getty.
That’s the military. There’s not much else to do but prank each other and drink, so sometimes the two are mixed.
I’m still absorbing that they drink out of flasks as part of ceremony!
They substituted booze for another kind of booze! Har har har! Hilarious ruse, gents!
LOL
I heard he almost started Dad Dancing. Hardy har.
IKR? I only clicked this thread because I thought maybe jagerbomb meant something different in British. But nope he was literally pranked with the world’s grossest club drink at a remembrance service.
Betty rose agreed! If someone surprised me with a jagerbomb I would have surprised them by throwing up all over them. I can’t handle the taste of licorice.
This is a major security failure. Slipping William something was a prank this time, but next time it may not be.
At least they had individual flasks. I was worried that they handed around a common flask and that just didn’t seem right from a public-health and poison perspective.
Ha! I had the same thought about them passing around a flask—it’s cold season! Glad to see individual flasks for all.
I got so sick off of doing those shots, i will never touch it again! Threw up and had the 2nd worst hangover of my life
@Snowflake: THIS! I was a freshman in college and turned 18. I had barely tasted alcohol before, my friends gave me Jaeger shots (and Malibu). Was the first time I ever blacked out, never made it out of the dorm that night (my bff stayed in with me to make sure I woke up). Just seeing a bottle of Jaeger still makes me want to spew.
I use Jaeger to quell an upset stomach, but only ever one shot, if I don’t have Underberg handy. Sometimes Underberg is a bit hard to find.
I didn’t know what Underberg was (had never heard of it) so I googled, and amazon’s got it! Just FYI. 😉
Come on Billy, we know you did your fair share of Jägerbombs when you were stumbling drunk out of London clubs!
This is always such a weird thing to say. I’ve been drunk before. I don’t make a habit of it. And no one’s interested enough in me to try to sell pictures of me in my younger drinking days.
Sometimes people drink. “Stumbling” out of a club is usually the way to get home, yes.
I know right? Weirdly, people here seem to think partying at clubs in your 20’s is “scandalous”.
I’m fine with this because naval men have their reputation for partying, so it fits the audience. Let them have their fun.
I feel as though this is a security issue. What if there was poison in that flask. I may be being dramatic, but I remember last year someone surprised him by spraying him the face with water. What if that was acid? Too scary.
My friend works for the US military (though she is leaving next year). From the stories she’s told me, this sounds right on target.
It has already been announced that the Cambridges and the Sussexes are attending the festival on Saturday and two other events on Sunday
It was a funny, unexpected thing. Why is he being policed about something so innocuous?
Yeah, the event itself was somber but the prank was seemingly in line with the submariners’ sense of humor as a group. Not talking about it might have made him seem angry or upset over it.
This. Plus I’m sure they all got a kick out of it, it likely made him more relatable. It’s like a funeral, just because you’re at a service doesn’t mean nobody can ever crack a smile or a giggle.
Totally agree with all the above.
Thank you for talking sense on this!
Agreed! He’s just showing good humour at the joke, and anyway… people would complain just as much if he didn’t.
I agree with girl_ninja re Security. There appear to have been a few lapses lately but hopefully all these ‘impromtu’ occurances are ‘cleared’ with their Personal Protection Officers. But there’s danger in allowing the RF to become too ‘informal’ and security to become sloppy. There are too many mistakes made with many things these days.
I can drink rum straight but jager makes me sick so I would not be happy. And it’s 8 years later but I still tell the story of how I was done at my bachelorette until my maid of honour made me drink a shot with jager in it.l and then I was horribly ill. I dinMt see anything amiss with him telling the story or being amused by it.
Blech, that stuff is awful.
We didn’t have energy drinks in my day, we drank Jager straight. I just gagged remembering it all. Or at least what I could remember.
We used to drink it straight, too. I actually didn’t mind it as much as some other spirits, but the flavor is INTENSE, and the burn takes a second to kick in, catching you by surprise. Liked it better mixed in soda, personally. Gave the drink a nice, bold kick.
That lady in the red coat looks like she knows something…
Interesting that Harry was depicted as the wild party prince yet it’s older William who seems to be having trouble getting on with adulting.
How is this “having trouble getting on with adulting”?
To me, someone who is at a very solemn and important occassion and is focusing on something silly and rather inappropriate, is immature. In addition to the other things William has done over the years like flirting with younger women and Dad dancing make me think he is bored with a settled life with a regular “job”, wife and children. In contrast to his brother who seemed to really mature after serving in the army.
oh my word, talk about making a mountain out of a molehill. This is normal humour for people who have served. Lighten up. So you think married people aren’t allowed to go on short breaks with their friends? You don’t have to be stuck at the hip 24/7. Harry is probably still the “party boy” their PR is good – people tend to believe it all.
A solemn event where everybody drank 🙄 Jesus, never go to a military event, you’ll strangle yourself grasping those pearls
I am not clutching pearls, Remembrance Day is a very solemn and huge deal where I live and I think his conduct could be better and you are reading into my post if you think I am making a big deal of it. I am expressing my opinion and you don’t have to agree but you don’t have to disrespect me when you do it.
Oh please! Part of the ceremony was to take a swig out of flask. The service men there played a harmless joke by switching out the kind of alcohol that was in the flask. Will joked about it afterwards. Not a big deal. If the act was so offensive to you, might I suggest you write to the Royal Navy and let them know that you, a civilian, find their traditions of honoring their fallen brothers distasteful?
It must be sad for Prince Charles to have sons like this.