Prince William Went Full Dad-Mode During Thunderstorm Plane Emergency

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had a pretty frightening experience on Thursday, days into their royal tour in Pakistan. As Prince William and Kate Middleton were flying into Islamabad, they were apparently forced to abort their landing due to a massive thunderstorm storm. But don't worry, Prince William went full dad-mode during the plane emergency by cracking jokes to help lighten the mood. If only we could have been there to see Middleton ruefully rolling her eyes like a true mom always does at a dad joke, it would have been a sight to see.

Prince William and Middleton were scheduled to take a short, 25-minute flight on the British military aircraft the RAF Voyager on Thursday morning from Lahore back to Islamabad, according to The Daily Express. It seems a massive electrical storm over Islamabad forced the plane to abort its landing — not just once, but twice — with journalists who were also on board the plane taking to Twitter to describe difficult turbulence. Rebecca English for the Daily Mail reported, "The pilot circled for an hour but the lightening — and turbulence — was so bad we had to fly back... Few of us have experienced turbulence as bad as that."

The plane ended up staying in the air for over two hours before returning to Lahore, according to People, which must have felt pretty harrowing for all on board. Except for Prince William, apparently.

ITV royal reporter Chris Ship, who was on the plane with the royal couple, tweeted that Prince William was cracking jokes. When Prince William, work as an air ambulance helicopter pilot until 2017, went to check on the royal press corp, he jokingly reported that he was "fine" and added, "I was flying!"

Now that passengers and crew are safely on the ground, I'm certain the royal parents are breathing a little easier. It's always a bit anxiety-inducing traveling away from your kids, and I'm certain 6-year-old Prince George, 4-year-old Princess Charlotte, and 1-year-old Prince Louis are never far from their parents' minds. In fact, I imagine Prince William will be excited to share some more of his hilarious dad humor when they speak the next time. He and his wife reportedly enjoy a nightly phone call with their kids while out of the country, according to Us Weekly, so I hope he's saving some of his best material. They are presumably his target audience, after all.

Although Prince William does like to spread his dad jokes around a little, even honoring the press corps with a zinger every now and then. Like when his younger brother Prince Harry became a father for the first time back on May 6, Prince William honored the momentous occasion by welcoming his brother into the "sleep deprivation society" of parenthood.

There's a good chance that Prince William is probably using his dad jokes as a way to deflect a little stress and anxiety from a difficult flight. And why not? It's a common human trait to use humor to ease tension. And besides, he really needs to work on his material. Prince William's kids are pretty young still... by the time they're teens, he's going to have to come up with some better stuff. Trust me.