Kate Middleton Hung Out With Tom Cruise at the Top Gun: Maverick Premiere

Somehow, Kate Middleton consistently makes being a royal look like one of the funnest jobs in the world. Whereas Queen Elizabeth II, for one, tends to look rather stoic while carrying out her duties, the Duchess can often be found grinning from ear to ear. (See: that time she gave her all at a game of rugby, or that time she went down a slide at the Lego Foundation in Denmark.) And while Middleton technically had to work late on Thursday night, she couldn’t have looked happier to do so. It just so happened that this year’s Royal Film Performance charity event took the form of the Top Gun: Maverick U.K. premiere, meaning that she got to reunite with a friend she only gets to see occasionally: none other than Tom Cruise. (They’ve met at least twice before, at the 2020 Euro Championship and 2021 Wimbledon women’s final.)

Middleton and William met a number of other cast members, most notably Cruise’s costars Miles Teller and Jennifer Connelly. The British royalty and Hollywood royalty looked equally happy to mingle, laughing and chatting on the red carpet before heading into the screening at Leicester Square. For the most part, though, Middleton—who wore a black-and-white off-the-shoulder gown by Roland Mouret for her night out on the town—seems to have spent the bulk of her time with Cruise. Unlike William, he even held her hand when they headed up the stairs into the theater.

This isn’t the first time Middleton has hobnobbed with celebrities at a Hollywood premiere. She and William memorably made a fully surprise appearance at the London screening of No Time to Die last fall, and thankfully, the moment she met Billie Eilish was captured on film. The image is delightful; in an alternate universe, they could have been the prom queen and begrudgingly dressed-up alt girl. If she keeps it up, who knows who the Duchess will be photographed with next?