The prospect of meeting royalty sounds daunting for most people — and Emilia Clarke is no exception.
The Game of Thrones star, 31, revealed during an appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers on Wednesday, May 23, that she totally flubbed her lines while introducing herself to Prince William after the 2018 Centrepoint Awards at Kensington Palace in February.
“It’s kind of a frightening thing going to the palace,” she said. “I was kind of just relaxing, and then they were like, ‘Oh, he’s going to come in. Prince William is going to come in.’ And so I was like, ‘Oh, cool, great! I’m really relaxed and everything’s going to be fine.’”
Clarke said that a palace staffer quickly gave her a rundown of the strict rules of etiquette for meeting a member of the British royal family. She was instructed to not turn her back on William, 35, and to address him as “Your Royal Highness” at first before switching over to “Prince William.”
But things became awkward when the Solo: A Star Wars Story actress finally came face-to-face with the Duke of Cambridge.
“For whatever reason — probably because I was so scared — I couldn’t manage to get out ‘Your Royal Highness,’” she recalled before cringing and laughing.
It’s possible that William was just as starstruck when he met Clarke, who plays Daenerys Targaryen on the HBO fantasy drama. After all, he revealed on BBC Radio 1 in April 2017 that he and his wife, Duchess Kate, are “both actually quite keen” on watching box sets of shows including Game of Thrones and Homeland while eating takeout.
Clarke appeared on Live With Kelly and Ryan the following morning and revealed that she plans to get a dragon tattoo on her left wrist once the eighth and final season of Game of Thrones wraps.
Late Night With Seth Meyers airs on NBC weeknights at 12:35 a.m. ET.
