Prince William and his wife, the Princess of Wales (formerly known as Kate Middleton), delighted fans when they attended the premiere of Tom Cruise‘s new movie, Digger.
The event, hosted by Warner Bros. Pictures and the Film and TV Charity, took place at the Odeon Luxe in Leicester Square, London, and the prince and princess were seen chatting with the Hollywood A-lister before walking the carpet together and greeting others in attendance.
Cruise, who has known William and Kate for years, was asked about his friendship with the royal couple, telling Entertainment Tonight, “They’re just such loving people and really caring people. So it’s really nice that they are with us tonight to share this with us. I have such respect for them. I appreciate them.”
The film’s star praised the pair again during the evening, saying, “We want to thank the Royal Highnesses for supporting this event, and just to tell them that we love them and we really appreciate what they do for the arts, for this country, and for the world.”
So what were the three talking about when they chatted amongst themselves? A lip reader has shared what they picked up on, including what Cruise said to Kate the moment before she grabbed the actor’s hand as they walked next to William.
Nicola Hickling is the founder of LipReader, a company specializing in lipreading and expert witness reports. Hickling has spearheaded the development of innovative technologies and services that empower individuals with hearing impairments. She has contributed to several publications, including the Daily Mail, Page Six, Newsweek, and many more.
According to Hickling, the princess told Cruise: “I’m looking forward to watching your character.”
Cruise then replied, “Oh I think you’ll like it.” He then asked for her hand as they continued to the stairs.
That moment reminded many of four years earlier at the Top Gun: Maverick premiere when Kate and Cruise went viral for photos and video clips of him taking her hand as they walked up the steps.
Even though it looked like Cruise was trying to be a gentleman by helping her on the stairs, there were numerous comments from many who were in shock that he was holding her hand and insisted that touching any royal was against protocol.
At the time, William was seen smiling slightly when he saw Cruise touching Kate as she didn’t look super comfortable with the hand-holding. But that was then. Now, it was the princess who had no issue grabbing Cruise’s hand.
For the Digger premiere, Kate wore a deep purple, long-sleeved, floor-length Jenny Packham gown paired with the Queen Mother’s amethyst sautoir necklace and Princess Diana’s pearl earrings. Prince William, meanwhile, donned black dress pants with a black velvet tuxedo jacket and matching bow tie.
He received a compliment on his outfit choice from Cruise as Hickling observed the action star tell the future king, “Great jacket.”
