William loves a Dad joke – here are 10 more fit for a Prince

Poor old Dads. No prefix is more maligned. “Dad-bod” describes the pudge-wrapped torso of one who has swapped the bench-press for beaujolais. “Dad-dancing” denotes the kind of pistol fingers, bum-wobble shuffle of someone recovering from an operation in which their sense of rhythm was surgically removed. “Dad-rock,” denotes safe, Radio-2 friendly guitar music. Don’t forget the most disgusting creature in all of politics, the “Centrist Dad”.

Worst of all, though, is the “Dad joke,” used to denote a pun or one-liner so obvious you see it coming several seconds before you hear it. The Prince of Wales added to the pile-on on Thursday. Speaking to a group of pupils at St Michael’s Church of England school in Rowley Regis, in the West Midlands, the future king raised the dad-joke spectre, taking a swipe at one of Britain’s most popular comedians at the same time. “I’ve been asked to produce a dad joke,” he said, “so I’m kind of trying to channel Jack Whitehall, most of his jokes are pretty dad-like.”

He went on to tell a knock-knock joke, which he said was his daughter Charlotte’s favourite. “Knock-knock,” he said.

“Who’s there,” replied a child.

“The interrupting cow.”

“The interrupting cow wh-?”

“MOO!”

If eye-rolls could kill, Prince George would now be the heir to the throne. Yet there is a nobility to the dad joke, which has come to be used as catch-all for a joke someone doesn’t like, but in fact often means a joke the audience finds funny despite themselves.

“It has become a generic term” for the majority of one liners, puns and knock-knock jokes,” says the anonymous figure behind The Dad Joke Man, an account on X (formerly Twitter) that has gained 150,000 followers for posting a stream of dad-esque material. (Its profile picture says: “When does a joke become a dad joke? When it becomes apparent.”)

“My sense of humour is very much in the dad-joke mould, so I thought I’d start an account to share ones I like. I keep my identity a secret but if people who know me found out, they would not be in the least bit surprised.”

Whitehall, for his part, says he has found himself drawn to this style of humour since the birth of his daughter last year. He posted a funny video of his ‘live’ reaction to the Prince’s comments. He is initially pleased about the name-drop, then outraged at the “dad-joke” accusation, then finally makes a careful note of Charlotte’s gag.

“I have embraced the dad joke since I became a father,” Whitehall says. “In the old days if I tried a joke out and got a groan from the audience instead of a laugh, I’d drop it. Now I lean into it.”

He adds that he was taught in the dark arts of the dad joke by his father, Michael, a talent agent and now frequent co-star of his son.

“I was raised by one of the worst offenders,” Whitehall says. “Every Sunday lunch my dad would spend the whole day cracking gags about moist birds and whether he was a leg or breast man. Turning to my mum and asking: ‘Does Madame require stuffing?’ It was like one of those smutty seaside postcards come to life.”

Whitehall says the dad joke reflects well on the Prince.

“If I’d been in the room it could have been a Will Smith at the Oscars moment,” he jokes. “But I love that William has a sense of humour. It’s great that he’s sending a bit of banter in my direction. It’s part of why he’s good at connecting with people. When I did the Royal Variety show and cracked a load of jokes about being at school with Kate and her being ‘the one that got away,’ he came up to me in the Royal line-up afterwards, shook my hand extremely hard and told me to back off his missus. I plan to fire back a couple of shots in his direction when I collect my knighthood.”

The Whitehalls are far from the only celebrity offenders. The cyclist Geraint Thomas is a known dad joke enjoyer, with a habit of posting things like “Stayed up all night to see where the sun went. Then it dawned on me.” Barack Obama is fond of a dad gag; so are Richard Osman, the author and television presenter, and Stephen Mangan, the actor.

Mildly risque as they might be, this is the joy of the Dad jokes. They are a convivial form of humour, obviously designed only to raise a groan or chuckle. There is no political agenda with a dad joke, no daring risk of offence. They aren’t X-rated. In fact the only vulnerable figure in a dad joke is the teller, who risks groans, eye-rolls or possibly rotten tomatoes being lobbed in his direction. The audience might never weep with laughter, but nor will they be offended. Dad jokes are perfect for settings where groups of very different people are trying to muddle along. A nation, perhaps, or a family: royal or otherwise.

Ten of the best – or worst – from TheDadJokeMan

If you laugh, give it a thumbs up. If you groan, give it a thumbs down...

1. Lord Nelson was about 5ft 6.
His statue is 17ft 4.
That’s Horatio of about 3:1

2. I used to have a job cutting holes to make trapdoors for theatres…
It was just a stage I was going through.

3. Police have discovered the body of a man inside a crate of chickpeas…
They are treating it as hummuside.

4. When David Beckham’s second son arrived at training for Brentford, he asked the coach “What number shirt am I?”
The coach said “Wear four out there Romeo…”

5. To the person who stole my trainers and hi-viz jacket…
You can run, but you can’t hide.

6. Why is Mickey Mouse’s helicopter no use in Scotland?
Disneyland…

7. Just got a job as senior director at Old MacDonald’s Farm. 
I’m the CIEIO.

8. My dad used to say “The first rule of theatre is to always leave them wanting more”
Great bloke…
Terrible anaesthetist…

9. I’ve been sacked as the singer in a D:Ream tribute band as I kept getting the lyrics wrong…
Oh well, I guess things can only improve.

10. A priest, a rabbit and a minister walked into a bar.
The rabbit says “I think I might be a typo...”

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