How one 8-year-old fan got Taylor Swift's '22' hat at the Eras Tour
Francesca von Boeselager, 8, is a member of the exclusive "22" hat club after Taylor Swift handed her the Holy Grail apparel at one of the Eras Tour shows in London.
"It was my dream," she says excitedly over Zoom. The vibrant girl went to tour's seventh show at Wembley Stadium with her 10-year-old sister, Antonia, and mom, Claudia. They sat in the stands along the perimeter, one row from the floor. A member of Swift's team, walking with a couple of security guards, noticed Francesca dancing during the "Fearless" era and stopped.
"This lady came up to me and started singing the song," Francesca says. The odds of this happening are 1 in 92,000 fans. Without meet-and-greets, this is the only way a concertgoer can get a one-on-one interaction with the singer.
Her mom, also on the Zoom call, adds: "She just says, 'Do you want to come with me?' And then one of the security guards says, 'Do you want me to record the video for you?' So I gave him the phone and I was laughing at myself thinking, 'Did I just give strangers my child and my phone?'"
Claudia and Antonia watched Francesca walk to the edge of the catwalk.
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"We walk to this gate," Francesca says.
When Swift came out during the "Red" era, she wore her "A lot going on at the moment" tee, apropos for Francesca.
"She started skipping to me," the 8-year-old says. "I gave her a bracelet, and she gave me the hat."
When the tour wraps in December, 149 fans will own a black fedora designed by milliner Gladys Tamez. In gold Sharpie, Swift autographed "Taylor" with a gold heart and wrote "Wembley and "Eras Tour 2024" on the brim.
"I couldn't believe it," Claudia says of watching her daughter's face on the big screen when Swift pulled away from the hug. "I don't think I felt such a like happy shock in my whole life, just the magic of it. I mean, obviously, it's like every mother and every parent’s wish that like your child might get picked out of 92,000 people."
Claudia suggests framing the "22" hat with a photo of Swift embracing her daughter.
"I’m going to have it for life because it's such an exciting thing," the girl chuckles.
Swift is on a break from the Eras Tour until Oct. 18 when she picks back up for three nights in Miami.
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