Prince William is reunited with his former school friend Humphrey Ker at The Turf pub in Wrexham (Image: Getty)
Humphrey Ker is a man who has enjoyed a remarkable life – from sharing a bedroom with Prince William at school to becoming a director at Wrexham AFC.
The actor, writer and comedian first met the Prince of Wales when the pair attended Ludgrove School and Eton College together as young boys. And they crossed paths again decades later when William paid a surprise visit to the football club owned by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
The story of how Ker ended up at the Welsh football outfit is a fascinating one, which has been documented in the hit Welcome to Wrexham TV series. The 42-year-old was born in October 1982 to father David Ker, a fine art dealer, and mother Alexandra, the daughter of a Royal Navy officer.
Following his early education alongside William, he studied history at the University of Edinburgh. It was during this period that he met fellow students David Reed and Thom Tuck and formed a sketch troupe called The Penny Dreadfuls, who wrote comedies for Radio 4.
Ker later won the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Newcomer in 2011 for his show Dymock Watson: Nazi Smasher! After relocating to Los Angeles in 2013, he began taking on more writing roles, eventually landing a job on Apple TV series Mythic Quest.
The workplace sitcom is set at a gaming company and stars Wrexham co-owner McElhenney in a leading role. The show was created by McElhenney alongside Ker’s wife Megan Ganz, who is also a writer on hit US TV show It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia.
Humphrey Ker and his wife Megan Ganz (Image: Getty)
During the filming of the opening season of Mythic Quest, Ker triggered a series of events that would ultimately lead to Reynolds and McElhenney buying Wrexham. Amid the early days of the Covid lockdowns, he regularly watched his team Liverpool FC during breaks in filming.
Ker’s love of the Premier League side caught the attention of sports fanatic McElhenney, who initially struggled to understand the appeal. That was until his colleague pointed him in the direction of the Sunderland ‘Til I Die documentary on Netflix and he was soon gripped.
Ker later told Four Four Two magazine: “The big shift was during lockdown. I recommended he watched Sunderland ‘Til I Die. I thought, ‘that’s the key to this. He’s a storyteller. He needs to understand the story of football’.”
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It clearly worked as McElhenney suddenly floated the idea of buying a football club to Ker, who quickly set about creating a set of criteria, scoring teams on factors such as facilities, fanbase, history and finance. Wrexham gained the highest marks, partly thanks to their rich history.
McElhenney pulled off a big coup in convincing Deadpool star Reynolds to come on board and the takeover was completed in February 2021 to the widespread approval of supporters. By his own admission, Ker is hardly a natural born football administrator, but was the first man on the ground in North Wales, serving as a key go-between for the new owners at a time when international travel was very difficult.
He was soon announced as an executive director, although his early interactions with the playing staff were slightly awkward. An early episode of Welcome to Wrexham shows Ker addressing some confused looking players shortly after the takeover was completed, who then burst into laughter when he leaves the room.
Humphrey Ker is a director at Wrexham AFC (Image: Getty)
However, his willingness to get stuck in and a self-deprecating style of humour soon endeared him to supporters and club stalwarts alike. Ker’s popularity has also been aided by the club’s newfound success on the pitch under former Sunderland manager Phil Parkinson, who took them to back-to-back promotions from the National League and League Two.
Fast forward to March 1, 2024 when Ker was reunited with a familiar face in Prince William as his former schoolmate visited Wrexham – now in League One fighting for promotion again to the Championship – to celebrate St David’s Day. During his time in the city, William met up with Ker and Wrexham co-chairman McElhenney at The Turf pub.
The encounter was shown in the third season of the Wrexham documentary. Reflecting on his past friendship with Ker, the Prince said “it’s been a while” as they warmly shook hands.
Prince William with Wrexham owner Rob McElhenney (left) and executive director Humphrey Ker (centre) (Image: Getty)
“I went to school with Prince William. I have known him since I was seven, or something like that,” Ker later revealed.”We literally shared a bedroom from (the age of) seven until 10.” William, a keen Aston Villa fan, praised both Ker and McElhenney for their work at Wrexham, as he asked them: “Has the journey been as exciting as it looks on the outside?”
McElhenney replied by saying that his involvement with the team had “exceeded anything we could have ever imagined”. William added: “You give so many football fans, whose team maybe is not in the glory days that they want to be or used to be, the hope and the optimism that one day you can be back.”
It made for memorable footage for the Disney+ cameras and a full circle moment for Ker, whose unlikely journey from William’s school friend to successful football club director has now been recognised. It’s also had a beneficial impact on his acting and writing career.
After appearing in two seasons of NBC sitcom American Auto, Ker has written a comedy play called Sherlock Holmes and The Twelve Days of Christmas with former Penny Dreadfuls member David Reed. The whodunnit, due to premiere in Birmingham in November, features original songs by none other than Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, who have previously been involved in some of the most famous musicals in history.
