It may have seemed like an impossible mission at the time, but Queen Elizabeth eventually fulfilled a wish to meet Hollywood mega-star Tom Cruise just weeks before her death.
The Queen hosted a private tea with Cruise at Windsor Castle, even letting the action movie hero land his helicopter on the lawn and fire a ceremonial gun, it has been reported.
“He was invited to have a special tour of Windsor Castle with everything laid on for him,” a royal source reportedly told The Times.
“Afterwards, just the two of them had tea together.”
The source said the unlikely pair “really hit it off”, so much so that 60-year-old Cruise, star of Top Gun and Mission Impossible, was invited to return for another visit.
However the follow-up session was not to be after the Queen passed away on September 8, just weeks after their special meeting which the Queen had “loved”.
The tea was reportedly arranged after the Queen let it be known she had been disappointed to miss the chance to meet Cruise during her Platinum Jubilee celebrations last June.
Cruise had appeared as part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee events, marking her 70th anniversary on the throne.
At the time she was suffering mobility issues and was forced to significantly scale back on her public appearances.
So Cruise was invited to return to England and the visit was considered a success.
“She loved seeing him and they really hit it off, so much so that she invited him back for lunch,” the source said.
“He was even allowed to fly in by helicopter.”
The Times quoted a source who said the tea with Cruise was held in the weeks before the Queen departed for Balmoral in Scotland where she spent her final British summer.
Cruise had spoken highly of the Queen in a TV interview for the Platinum celebrations, saying she was a woman he greatly admired.
“I think she is someone who has tremendous dignity and I admire her devotion,” he said.
“What she has accomplished has been historic.”
