Princess Diana had the opportunity to meet dozens of celebrities during her time in the Royal Family, and after her separation from Prince Charles, she became one of the world’s most eligible women. Although Tom Cruise was still married to Nicole Kidman at the time, Diana made a cheeky comment about the Top Gun actor in the mid '90s—and her former chef, Darren McGrady, shared the hilarious story on his YouTube channel.
In a video created to honor the late royal’s birthday, McGrady shared that they encountered celebrities at Kensington Palace quite often. But Diana, who had previously met Cruise at a 1992 movie premiere, received a special invitation to the original Mission Impossible movie set.
“She came into the kitchen one morning and said, ‘Darren we’ve had an invite to go and watch the making of Mission Impossible at Pinewood studios in London for me to take William and Harry,’” McGrady said. The movie, which premiered in 1996, was filming in London the year prior, and Diana asked her chef if he thought “the boys would be interested” in going.
McGrady, who noted that William and Harry would likely enjoy “the pyrotechnics and everything,” said with a laugh, “I’m not sure about the boys, Your Royal Highness, but if you get to meet Tom Cruise…?” Diana then replied, “Darren, I’ll crack the funnies!”
The former Kensington Palace chef said that Princess Diana popped into the kitchen after she'd returned from the movie set, recalling that William and Harry “absolutely loved it, all those explosions and things.”
However, Diana had a hilarious observation about their big day out. “She came in, picked up some fruit, walked out and didn’t say anything,” McGrady shared. “But as she was walking out, she said ‘That’s another one off the list. He’s too short!’ She’d met Tom Cruise.”
Cruise and Kidman attended Diana’s funeral just two years later, and decades on, Prince William would forge a friendly relationship with the actor. The Prince and Princess of Wales walked the red carpet at the Top Gun: Maverick premiere in 2022, and Cruise attended a London Air Ambulance Charity Gala Dinner in 2024 with William.
Speaking about some of his favorite movies at the 2026 BAFTAs, Prince William admitted he was “biased” when it came to the actor and couldn’t understand why the movie “doesn't win anything.”
“I've got to be careful because I'm a little biased to a particular person,” he shared. “But Top Gun 2, for instance, is one of the most incredible films I've watched in a long time.”
