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Prince William reveals he once dreamt of being ‘DJ Xara’ or a career as a policeman

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Cite

Crowe, D. (2026, October 23). Prince William reveals he once dreamt of being ‘DJ Xara’ or a career as a policeman. The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/prince-william-reveals-he-once-dreamt-of-being-dj-xara-or-a-career-as-a-policeman-20261024-p61891.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

The Sydney Morning Herald · collected 2026-10-23 · by David Crowe

Quick Summary

Prince William recently appeared on Graham Norton’s BBC television show where he revealed his childhood dreams of becoming a policeman or a DJ. He mentioned creating a stage name "DJ Xara" but never pursued it seriously. The discussion was part of promoting the Earthshot Prize, an environmental initiative he founded in 2020 that awards £1 million ($1.9 million) grants to five winners each year from a pool of 15 finalists globally. William emphasized the prize's focus on optimism and urgency in addressing climate issues.
Written by AI on 2026-10-23, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Prince William made a surprise appearance on BBC's Graham Norton Show on October 23, 2026, to promote the upcoming Earthshot Prize ceremony in Mumbai. The event will be held next month and features a £5 million prize awarded to global finalists tackling environmental issues. During his chat with hosts and guests including Cate Blanchett and Hannah Waddingham, William revealed he once dreamed of becoming "DJ Xara" but never achieved it. He also mentioned considering a career as a policeman before taking on his current role supporting environmental initiatives since 2021.

Written for “William's Earthshot Appearance And DJ Dreams” on 2026-11-04, grounded in this article and the 4 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 William's Earthshot Appearance And DJ Dreams
Entertainment · 5 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 15% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
BBC News
Hedges 0 of 6 claims Outlet record 66/100
The Straits Times
Hedges 0 of 17 claims Outlet record 66/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
27
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
15%
4 of 27 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
61/100
The Sydney Morning Herald's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
5
Entertainment
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-23 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Sydney Morning Herald · 6070 article(s) · 15 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 15 correction(s)

Who wrote this

David Crowe
39 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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🔮 Prince William has revealed he once dreamt of becoming a policeman or a DJ when he considered careers other than being heir to the throne.
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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 39 articles by David Crowe →

Topics

Australian BBC British Elektra/Person London

Subjects

William PERSON · 4× Norton PERSON · 3× Blanchett PERSON · 2× Christopher Nolan PERSON · 2× Irwin PERSON · 2× London GPE · 2× Waddingham PERSON · 2× Graham Norton PERSON · 1× Prince William PERSON · 1× Xara PERSON · 1×

Narrative

The talk about the prince’s early aspirations came up when he joined guests Cate Blanchett, Hannah Waddingham and Robert Irwin on Norton’s weekly BBC television show on Friday night (early on Saturday, AEDT).
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-23
🔮 Prince William has revealed he once dreamt of becoming a policeman or a DJ when he considered careers other than being heir to the throne.
2026-10-23 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Prince William reveals he once dreamt of being ‘DJ Xara’ or a career as a policeman · assertive framing

Claims (27 extracted, 4 hedged)

Prince William has revealed he once dreamt of becoming a policeman or a DJ when he considered careers other than being heir to the throne. asserted
he → reveal → throne
The Prince of Wales said he came up with a disc jockey stage name, “DJ Xara”, but never managed to play a big event. asserted
he → say → event
Asked by television host Graham Norton if he ever DJ’ed at school parties, William replied: “No, I didn’t, I never got that good.” asserted
I → ask → parties
The talk about the prince’s early aspirations came up when he joined guests Cate Blanchett, Hannah Waddingham and Robert Irwin on Norton’s weekly BBC television show on Friday night (early on Saturday, AEDT). asserted
he → come → Saturday
Waddingham, one of the stars of the Ted Lasso television series, told the prince his “DJ Xara” name was “rubbish” – to which he did not disagree. asserted
he → tell → which
Irwin, the son of crocodile hunter Steve Irwin and a winner of the British version of Dancing with the Stars, suggested the prince might have dreamt about wrangling crocodiles. uncertain
prince → suggest → crocodiles
“If I’d met you earlier, I might have,” the prince replied. uncertain
prince → meet → you
The appearance was a rare move for William to join a late-night talk show that usually features stage and screen stars speaking about their latest productions. asserted
stars → join → productions
The prince, born in 1982, discussed his DJ career ideas when Norton asked whether he had ever wondered about doing a job other than the one he was assigned at birth. asserted
he → bear → birth
“Being a policeman, I thought, was quite cool,” the prince replied. asserted
prince → think → ?
“And then I went through a phase when I wanted to be a DJ, which didn’t go very well.” asserted
which → go → phase
Blanchett, who has gained rave reviews for her appearance in Elektra/Person at the National Theatre in London, joked with William about whether he had stage moves to go with his “DJ Xara” name. asserted
he → gain → name
The prince joined the talk show to promote the Earthshot Prize, a climate project he set up in 2020 and which is backed by Blanchett, Waddingham and Irwin. asserted
which → join → Blanchett
The organisation raises funds from sponsors and selects 15 finalists each year with environmental projects around the world. asserted
organisation → raise → world
It then chooses five winners and gives each one a £1 million ($1.9 million) grant. asserted
It → choose → grant
Two Australian projects have made the longlist in recent years: the Indigenous Desert Alliance and the Quay Quarter Tower in Sydney. asserted
projects → make → Sydney
William has also announced an Earthshot Prize for children, ahead of the annual Earthshot Prize announcements at a ceremony in Mumbai, India on November 17. asserted
William → announce → November
“For many years I was hearing stories about environment issues and one thing that struck me was the negativity and doom, which got me down,” he told Norton. asserted
he → hear → Norton
“I thought we could do something more powerful and more optimistic, and the idea of an awards ceremony came about, and we could talk about urgency and optimism together. uncertain
we → think → urgency
It’s all about getting excited. asserted
It → ’ → ?
We could really highlight what is being done and scale them to the next level to have more impact around the world.” uncertain
what → highlight → world
The prince also discussed pop culture and film, including the films of director Christopher Nolan, when asked how he “switched off” from royal life. asserted
he → discuss → life
I love getting immersed in deep-thinking films,” he said. asserted
he → love → films
“I like action films too, but I like something a bit different. asserted
I → like → something
I’m a big fan of everything Christopher Nolan does. asserted
Nolan → ’m → everything
His films are fantastic – The Dark Knight series is psychologically dark and deep, and I absolutely love that. asserted
I → love → that
“He takes concepts that are completely out there and makes them incredibly entertaining.” Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. asserted
what → take → world
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