Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Rebecca Russell

Oscar-winning actress felt like a 'wimp' in front of Kate Middleton in 'awkward moment'

A huge number of celebrities have opened up during chat show appearances about their experiences of meeting members of the Royal Family.

Whether it was the late Queen, The King or The Prince and Princess of Wales, the public have learnt about funny comments or memorable interactions between the royals and the celebrities they have met.

While there are countless of options to choose from, one story from the Oscar-winning actress Allison Janney is among the best.

Appearing on The Late Late Show back in 2018, Janney told host James Corden about her run-in with the-then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at the 2018 BAFTA Awards ceremony in London.

Oscar winning actress Allison Janney opened up about meeting the-then Duchess of Cambridge (2018 CBS Photo Archive)

The actress explained: "I did meet Kate and William, and she was in her heels and pregnant, so I felt like a bit of a wimp that I was there in my bare feet.

"She was in full-on heels, and she was my height when I was in my bare feet, it was kind of extraordinary that she's that tall.

"I told her that I was in bare feet and I told her that she should take her shoes off 'cause she's pregnant. It was an awkward moment."

She added that she accidentally called Kate by a familiar pet name. "I called her 'honey' and that might not have been royal etiquette," she laughed.

Allison Janney won the Best Supporting Actress BAFTA award for her role in the movie 'I, Tonya' (2018 Karwai Tang)
The Princess of Wales was pregnant with Prince Louis at the time during her appearance at the BAFTA Awards in 2018 (2018 Karwai Tang)

Love the royals? Sign up for the Mirror's daily newsletter to get all the latest news on the Queen, Charles, Kate, Wills, Meghan, Harry and the rest of The Firm. Click here to sign up .

Several other Hollywood icons have recalled their memories of meeting The Princess of Wales. Chief amongst them is Academy Award winner, Reese Witherspoon.

In her 2018 book 'Whiskey in a Teacup' actress Reese Witherspoon recalled the moment she received an invitation to meet the Prince and Princess of Wales in Los Angeles in 2011 and shared what it was really like to meet her.

She wrote: "I felt relatively immune from the obsession with the royals until a few years ago when I was invited to meet Kate Middleton. She had just married Prince William, and she was coming to Los Angeles for a fundraiser.

"I don't even know how I got so lucky as to receive the invitation. The scream that issued from my lips upon receiving it - you would have thought I was going to die."

Reese Witherspoon also praised her experience meeting the Princess of Wales (2011 Getty Images)

Reese goes on to admit that she woke up at 4am the morning of the event in order to look her best to meet royalty.

"I was up at 4am doing my hair. That's early, even for me. I was up, dressed and waiting by the door by 7am. Jim took pictures of me in the car. You can see rays of happiness shooting out of my face. I love Kate Middleton that much.

"And she did not disappoint! She was just lovely and warm, elegant and composed. She also told a joke, and I immediately fell under her spell.

"She's just as magnificent as she seems to be. She's a very compassionate, socially conscious, deeply caring person. It takes a very special person to decide to commit to that kind of life," she wrote.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.