Dancing Prince Charles

2012Photoshop exploitable / image macrodead

Also known as: Prince Charles Photoshop · Sneaky Prince Charles

Dancing Prince Charles is a 2012 photoshop exploitable meme built on the comedic contrast between Prince Charles's formal royal image and his mid-jig grin, popularized on B3ta.

Dancing Prince Charles is a photoshop exploitable meme based on a photograph of Prince Charles doing an impromptu jig during a Diamond Jubilee visit to the Channel Islands on July 19, 2012. The image of the heir to the British throne mid-dance with a mischievous grin became a popular cut-out on B3ta, where users placed him into absurd scenarios. The gap between Charles's stuffy royal image and his goofy pose gave the meme its comedy.

exploitable templatesphotoshop memesbritish memes2012 memesb3ta memes

Overview

The meme uses a specific photograph of Prince Charles captured mid-dance at a youth festival in Guernsey. In the image, Charles is wearing a double-breasted suit and highly polished brogues while doing a little jig with his arms raised and a playful, almost sneaky expression on his face1. B3ta users noticed the pose made Charles look like he was creeping around with mischievous intent, which clashed hilariously with his position as heir to the British throne1. The image was quickly turned into a cut-out exploitable, with Charles dropped into all manner of ridiculous scenes.

On July 19, 2012, Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, visited Saumarez Park in St Peter Port, Guernsey, as part of a Diamond Jubilee tour of the Channel Islands3. The royal couple joined in various activities at a youth showcase, including a parachute game where Charles dove under a multi-colored silk canopy3. He also tried spinning plates (badly) and had attempted an indoor climbing wall in Jersey the day before, despite wearing a three-piece suit5.

Press photographers captured Charles mid-dance with a goofy expression, arms slightly raised, looking every bit the "court jester" as the London Evening Standard put it5. The image spread online within days, and the UK humor community B3ta quickly picked it up as prime Photoshop material1.

Origin & Background

Platform
News photography (source photo), B3ta (meme format)
Key People
Unknown, B3ta community
Date
2012

On July 19, 2012, Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, visited Saumarez Park in St Peter Port, Guernsey, as part of a Diamond Jubilee tour of the Channel Islands. The royal couple joined in various activities at a youth showcase, including a parachute game where Charles dove under a multi-colored silk canopy. He also tried spinning plates (badly) and had attempted an indoor climbing wall in Jersey the day before, despite wearing a three-piece suit.

Press photographers captured Charles mid-dance with a goofy expression, arms slightly raised, looking every bit the "court jester" as the London Evening Standard put it. The image spread online within days, and the UK humor community B3ta quickly picked it up as prime Photoshop material.

How It Spread

A day or two after the photos from the Channel Islands visit went public, B3ta users began cutting Charles out of the original photograph and placing him into new contexts. The community ran a dedicated Photoshop challenge titled "photoshop prince charles," collecting the best edits in one place. The joke that Charles appeared to be sneaking around with mischievous intent became the dominant reading of the image, and edits played up this interpretation.

By August 2012, one particular edit gained traction beyond B3ta. Someone combined the Dancing Prince Charles cut-out with "Chubby Bubbles Girl," a separate meme that had originated on 4chan roughly three years earlier. The resulting image appeared to show Charles gleefully chasing a young girl holding a bottle of bubbles across a field. The Atlantic ran a piece debunking the composite, noting that "these two have likely never met" but acknowledging that Charles did genuinely "make that face and do that run-dance" at some point, making it "still in some ways an important, valid image".

The meme saw most of its activity in the summer and fall of 2012, with sporadic reappearances afterward. As Encyclopedia Dramatica noted, "befitting its appearance, it continues to pop up unexpectedly".

How to Use This Meme

The Dancing Prince Charles format works as a simple cut-out exploitable:

1

Take the transparent cut-out of Charles in his dancing/sneaking pose

2

Place him into any scene where a person creeping around with mischievous intent would be funny

3

The comedy typically comes from the contrast between Charles's royal status and whatever ridiculous situation he's been dropped into

Cultural Impact

The meme got a boost from mainstream press coverage of the original Guernsey visit. The Daily Mail ran a photo spread showing Charles and Camilla playing parachute games and spinning plates. The London Evening Standard asked "Is Charles becoming the new Boris?" comparing his willingness to look silly in public to then-London-Mayor Boris Johnson's antics.

The Atlantic's August 2012 debunking of the Charles-meets-Bubbles-Girl composite introduced the meme to an American audience who might not have seen the B3ta edits. The piece struck a tone that captured the meme's appeal: disappointment that the absurd image wasn't real, mixed with appreciation for the genuine silliness of the source photo.

Fun Facts

The day before the famous dance photo, Charles had attempted an indoor climbing wall in Jersey while wearing a full suit and slippery brogues, drawing gasps from onlookers.

Charles also tried spinning plates during the same Guernsey visit and failed when his "lack of balance meant the crockery tumbled".

The head teacher of Grainville School said Charles "will have earned some street cred" with the young people after his climbing wall stunt.

The Chubby Bubbles Girl meme that was combined with Dancing Prince Charles had originated on 4chan about three years earlier, around 2009.

Derivatives & Variations

Chubby Bubbles Girl Mashup:

A composite image placing Charles behind the running "Chubby Bubbles Girl," making it look like he was chasing her. Widely shared before The Atlantic debunked it[4].

B3ta Photoshop Challenge Entries:

Dozens of community-made edits placing Charles into scenes from movies, video games, and everyday life, collected on the B3ta challenge page[2].

Frequently Asked Questions

Dancing Prince Charles

2012Photoshop exploitable / image macrodead

Also known as: Prince Charles Photoshop · Sneaky Prince Charles

Dancing Prince Charles is a 2012 photoshop exploitable meme built on the comedic contrast between Prince Charles's formal royal image and his mid-jig grin, popularized on B3ta.

Dancing Prince Charles is a photoshop exploitable meme based on a photograph of Prince Charles doing an impromptu jig during a Diamond Jubilee visit to the Channel Islands on July 19, 2012. The image of the heir to the British throne mid-dance with a mischievous grin became a popular cut-out on B3ta, where users placed him into absurd scenarios. The gap between Charles's stuffy royal image and his goofy pose gave the meme its comedy.

exploitable templates photoshop memes british memes 2012 memes b3ta memes

Overview

The meme uses a specific photograph of Prince Charles captured mid-dance at a youth festival in Guernsey. In the image, Charles is wearing a double-breasted suit and highly polished brogues while doing a little jig with his arms raised and a playful, almost sneaky expression on his face. B3ta users noticed the pose made Charles look like he was creeping around with mischievous intent, which clashed hilariously with his position as heir to the British throne. The image was quickly turned into a cut-out exploitable, with Charles dropped into all manner of ridiculous scenes.

On July 19, 2012, Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, visited Saumarez Park in St Peter Port, Guernsey, as part of a Diamond Jubilee tour of the Channel Islands. The royal couple joined in various activities at a youth showcase, including a parachute game where Charles dove under a multi-colored silk canopy. He also tried spinning plates (badly) and had attempted an indoor climbing wall in Jersey the day before, despite wearing a three-piece suit.

Press photographers captured Charles mid-dance with a goofy expression, arms slightly raised, looking every bit the "court jester" as the London Evening Standard put it. The image spread online within days, and the UK humor community B3ta quickly picked it up as prime Photoshop material.

Origin & Background

Platform
News photography (source photo), B3ta (meme format)
Key People
Unknown, B3ta community
Date
2012

On July 19, 2012, Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, visited Saumarez Park in St Peter Port, Guernsey, as part of a Diamond Jubilee tour of the Channel Islands. The royal couple joined in various activities at a youth showcase, including a parachute game where Charles dove under a multi-colored silk canopy. He also tried spinning plates (badly) and had attempted an indoor climbing wall in Jersey the day before, despite wearing a three-piece suit.

Press photographers captured Charles mid-dance with a goofy expression, arms slightly raised, looking every bit the "court jester" as the London Evening Standard put it. The image spread online within days, and the UK humor community B3ta quickly picked it up as prime Photoshop material.

How It Spread

A day or two after the photos from the Channel Islands visit went public, B3ta users began cutting Charles out of the original photograph and placing him into new contexts. The community ran a dedicated Photoshop challenge titled "photoshop prince charles," collecting the best edits in one place. The joke that Charles appeared to be sneaking around with mischievous intent became the dominant reading of the image, and edits played up this interpretation.

By August 2012, one particular edit gained traction beyond B3ta. Someone combined the Dancing Prince Charles cut-out with "Chubby Bubbles Girl," a separate meme that had originated on 4chan roughly three years earlier. The resulting image appeared to show Charles gleefully chasing a young girl holding a bottle of bubbles across a field. The Atlantic ran a piece debunking the composite, noting that "these two have likely never met" but acknowledging that Charles did genuinely "make that face and do that run-dance" at some point, making it "still in some ways an important, valid image".

The meme saw most of its activity in the summer and fall of 2012, with sporadic reappearances afterward. As Encyclopedia Dramatica noted, "befitting its appearance, it continues to pop up unexpectedly".

How to Use This Meme

The Dancing Prince Charles format works as a simple cut-out exploitable:

1

Take the transparent cut-out of Charles in his dancing/sneaking pose

2

Place him into any scene where a person creeping around with mischievous intent would be funny

3

The comedy typically comes from the contrast between Charles's royal status and whatever ridiculous situation he's been dropped into

Cultural Impact

The meme got a boost from mainstream press coverage of the original Guernsey visit. The Daily Mail ran a photo spread showing Charles and Camilla playing parachute games and spinning plates. The London Evening Standard asked "Is Charles becoming the new Boris?" comparing his willingness to look silly in public to then-London-Mayor Boris Johnson's antics.

The Atlantic's August 2012 debunking of the Charles-meets-Bubbles-Girl composite introduced the meme to an American audience who might not have seen the B3ta edits. The piece struck a tone that captured the meme's appeal: disappointment that the absurd image wasn't real, mixed with appreciation for the genuine silliness of the source photo.

Fun Facts

The day before the famous dance photo, Charles had attempted an indoor climbing wall in Jersey while wearing a full suit and slippery brogues, drawing gasps from onlookers.

Charles also tried spinning plates during the same Guernsey visit and failed when his "lack of balance meant the crockery tumbled".

The head teacher of Grainville School said Charles "will have earned some street cred" with the young people after his climbing wall stunt.

The Chubby Bubbles Girl meme that was combined with Dancing Prince Charles had originated on 4chan about three years earlier, around 2009.

Derivatives & Variations

Chubby Bubbles Girl Mashup:

A composite image placing Charles behind the running "Chubby Bubbles Girl," making it look like he was chasing her. Widely shared before The Atlantic debunked it[4].

B3ta Photoshop Challenge Entries:

Dozens of community-made edits placing Charles into scenes from movies, video games, and everyday life, collected on the B3ta challenge page[2].

Frequently Asked Questions