When Prince William sat astride a motorbike in a Northern Ireland film studio on Thursday, he was ported back to a passion he has long since let go, partially at the behest of his wife, Kate Middleton.
“Any excuse to get on a motorbike,” he said in a video shared by Hello!, climbing onto the seat of a stationary motorcycle in the Virtual Production Studio at Ulster University’s Belfast City Campus. He sat placidly in his suit and tie on the bike as a moving screenscape of an Arizona desert sped by on a backdrop behind him, which he called “incredibly realistic.”
“I love that exhaust,” he said as he dismounted the bike, which did not move nor emit exhaust of any kind. “I feel like someone needs to take this for a real spin.”
What can’t technology do? (Lots of things.)
The Prince of Wales used to be very into motorcycle trips with his pals, a hobby that in 2015 his wife, Princess Kate, admitted “always fills me with horror.” She and William were on a trip to Dundee, near their shared alma mater of St Andrews, and a well-wisher asked her if William still rode motorcycles. To Kate’s chagrin, he very much did. “I’m terrified,” she continued. “Hopefully, I’m going to keep George off it.” At the time, Prince George was two years old, and Princess Charlotte had only been born a few months prior.
By 2018, the horrors had ended: On a visit to the Isle of Man, William conceded that his vroom vroom days were over.
“I’m a dad of three,” he said. “I have to tone it down. I miss the big trips. For me, biking was always about being with everybody else.”
