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Prince William and the Princess of Wales (formerly known as Kate Middleton) have completed hundreds of royal engagements over the years at home and abroad. But sometimes when they’re performing those official duties things don’t always go according to plan.

That’s what happened during one royal visit to Australia and New Zealand and now video of that embarrassing moment has gone viral. Here’s more on that and who really stole the show during the couple’s 2014 tour.

Prince William and Kate Middleton, whose embarrassing mishap during tour of Australia and New Zealand has gone viral, trying archery while taking part in the Big Help Out
Prince William standing next to Kate Middleton as she tries her hand at archery while taking part in the Big Help Out | DANIEL LEAL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Footage of the couple’s embarrassing tour moment resurfaced online

On April 7, 2014, William and Kate arrived in Wellington, New Zealand, to kick off a 19-day royal tour.

It was their first official visit to the country and while there they were set to unveil a plaque at the Air Force Museum of New Zealand. But that was easier said than done as video from that day recently resurfaced on TikTok and shows the prince and princess having a little trouble with that task.

In the clip, William and Kate attempt to pull the cord for the plaque to be shown but when they do nothing happens. The pair try again to make the curtain open and again it fails. Things got a little awkward as they continued to pull and got the same result in front of the crowd waiting to see the plaque. Eventually, a member of the delegation accompanying their visit stepped in and was able to finally bring down the velvet curtain.

Prince William and Kate Middleton unveil a new plaque dedicated to RNZAF personnel who have served in peacekeeping operations around the world
Prince William and Kate Middleton unveil a new plaque dedicated to RNZAF personnel who have served in peacekeeping operations around the world | Danny Martindale/WireImage

The video captioned “William and Kate have a nightmare unveiling a plaque!” has been viewed more than 30,000 times and garnered hundreds of comments.

“[They] would have kept pulling that string until one of them won. They are so competitive,” one person wrote.

“Love how they were having awkward fun though,” a second person said.

Others defended their mishap writing: “That was clearly a design flaw, not their fault lol.”

And another agreed that opening the curtain was confusing posting: “Everyone making fun of them but I stared at this for a good minute confused how to unveil it too.”

Prince George also had some viral moments during the royal tour

William and Kate brought their son Prince George along for this tour.

The little prince wasn’t even a year old at the time but had some viral moments of his own including an outing with his parents at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney.

George was introduced to a real Bilby but wasn’t thrilled when he was given a stuffed one and threw the toy onto the ground as soon as his mother gave it to him. Those gathered around began laughing as William joked that his son “does love it, honestly.”

George also participated in a “crawl about” with other little ones at the Government House in New Zealand.