Celebs’ Surprising Connections to the Royal Family: Henry Golding, Ashton Kutcher and More

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Celebs’ Surprising Connections to the Royal Family: Henry Golding, Ashton Kutcher and More

Unexpected link! Many celebrities have found themselves meeting members of the royal family in interesting ways. Henry Golding revealed that Princess Kate would visit his workplace before he became an actor. "Kate Middleton used to come to the hairdressers that I used to work at way before," the Crazy Rich Asians actor shared during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen in July 2021. "I cut her brother's [James Middleton] hair a long time ago." Meanwhile, David Duchovny's connection to King Charles III — whose coronation took place at Westminster Abbey in May 2023 — was less wholesome when he found himself having to explain what the term "booty call" meant at a concert in the '90s. "In the song, which I don't remember, they say the phrase 'booty call' over and over again and I saw Prince Charles just kind of looking perplexed. And he said, 'Booty call...'" the X-Files star explained on The Late Late Show with James Corden about the Duke of Wales' reaction to All Saints' "Bootie Call". Duchovny broke down how he paraphrased the term for the royal to understand at the time. [jwplayer C7PnjHjO-zhNYySv2] "I said, 'Well it's when a man or a woman calls a man or a woman to come to their home late at night for the express purpose of ... getting together and then leaving right afterward,’" he mentioned during the May 2018 appearance. Cate Blanchett also had an awkward encounter when she tried to figure out why she was having lunch with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. “There were 12 of us, and I couldn’t work out for the life of me why I’d been invited,” Blanchett revealed on The Jonathan Ross Show in September 2018. The actress wondered at the time if her past work on the 1998 film Elizabeth had anything to do with her gaining an invitation. “Playing Queen Elizabeth [I] and sitting next to [Elizabeth II], I thought, ‘Maybe she’s seen the movie and wants to ask me about my interpretation,” she clarified. It was the late Duke of Edinburgh, though, that wanted to use Blanchett's experience in the film industry to good use. “I sat next to [Philip],” the Thor: Ragnarok star explained. “And he said, ‘I hear you’re an actor? I was given a DVD player for Christmas and I can’t work out whether I put the green cord in or the red cord.’” Scroll down for more interesting encounters that celebs' have had with the royal family over the years: [podcast_block]

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Katy Perry

Before performing at Charles’ coronation concert, she attended his ceremony at Westminster Abbey in May 2023. Playing into her fun fashion sense, the “Wide Awake” singer sported lilac formalwear and a matching see-through hat. She accessorized her look with a necklace in the shape of the Sovereign’s Orb. 

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Lionel Richie

Much like his fellow American Idol judge Perry, the “Hello” singer was among several celebrities in attendance at Charles’ royal coronation. He kept things classy by wearing a tailed suit jacket, gray pants and a black top hat.

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Rupert Everett

“I went to the theatre with [Princess Margaret] once in about 1986 and her lady-in-waiting as well,” the My Policeman star during a May 2015 appearance on the Graham Norton Show, referring to Queen Elizabeth's younger sister, who died in 2002. “I never got asked again, I must say, when she realized that there were two princesses there — and one of them was me.”

He added at the time: “She was great, she was kind of like the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland. She had huge black hair and the Hanoverian bosom and her dress rattled like castanets, I don’t know what was going on. … When we got in the car, she said, ‘You’ve got marvelous legs!’ And then she called me, ‘Leggy’ all the way [to the venue].”

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Sheryl Lee Ralph

The Abbott Elementary star revealed an interesting family connection to the late Queen Elizabeth II while speaking exclusively with Us Weekly in September 2022.

“My auntie Carolyn [Preston] … went to college to get out of the house and she became a teacher and ended up becoming a principal at a [National Blue Ribbon School] that [once] invited the queen,” Ralph shared with Us at the time.

The Emmy winner further detailed the occasion – which likely occurred during the late monarch's visit to the United States in May 1991 – explaining: “The queen actually came and sipped tea with her class and the students – yeah, that really happened! [At] Bunker Hill Elementary School in Washington, D.C.”

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Golda Rosheuvel

"I didn't need to do much research [for Bridgerton] because I knew the world this character came from already," the actress, who portrays Queen Charlotte in the Netflix series, told Tatler in March 2022. "It was my mother's world and that makes her very easy to play."

She added: "Every time I dress up as Queen Charlotte, I pay homage to my mother. Before the war, they had butlers, their world was very public school. My grandfather was the headmaster of Colet Court, my great-uncle was Bishop of Barbados, later Archbishop of Jamaica and when my mother visited him there she had dinner with Princess Margaret."

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Tori Spelling

While reminiscing about her childhood home, the Beverly Hills: 90210 alum claimed that her mother, Candy Spelling, once hosted an event for King Charles, which was one of "two or three" parties held at the Beverly Hills mansion. "The first party, and one of her only parties, was for Prince Charles," Tori recalled. "When he came to town, he wanted to have it there!"

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Lily Collins

During a January 2022 episode of The Late Late Show With James Corden, the Emily in Paris actress remembered when she and her parents, Phil Collins and Jill Tavelman, met the King Charles and his late wife.

"I have been told that this is what happened," Lily said. "I'm giving Diana flowers and the second she went to take them, I then tried to pull them back. So, as you can image, all the air was sucked out of the room. But then again, I was wearing a cute dress, so who's going to really punish me?"

The To the Bone star added: "I was also told that when I was younger, I was playing with some toys with Prince Charles and I proceeded to throw something at him, like, throw a toy telephone at his head, which again, all the air was sucked out of the room."

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Rami Malek

While meeting Kate at the 2019 BAFTA Awards, the Bohemian Rhapsody star took the duchess by surprise when he asked how she was doing after giving birth to baby No. 3. "They're so careful, but it was so cool because I think I caught her off guard for a second,” he told Jimmy Kimmel in October 2021. "The funniest thing about that is, I said, 'You know, if you ever need time off, I'm backup for you.' She's like, 'What do you mean?' I said, 'You guys go out, have a good time.’"

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Henry Golding

"Really sweet family, very sweet family, so that's my brush with the royals," Golding added about having the Duchess of Cambridge and her brother as clients while on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen in July 2021.

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Eddie Redmayne

Redmayne previously spoke about attending Eton College with Prince William.

“I did play rugby with Prince William,” the Les Misérables star said on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen in November 2018. “I always felt a bit sorry for him because basically any school you played, all they wanted to do was tackle Prince William in order to say, ‘I tackled Prince William.’ So if you were standing next to Prince William, like I was, it was actually quite easy and quite fun."

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Ashton Kutcher

Kutcher and Mila Kunis enjoyed a double date with Princess Beatrice and her boyfriend at the time, Dave Clark, after bonding in London.

“Princess Beatrice is obviously enamored by Hollywood and had a great time hanging out with them,” a source told Us Weekly after the foursome enjoyed their time together in May 2013. “They all get along really well. Bea thinks Mila is awesome.”

The insider noted that Clark was the connection between them because of his career. 

“He is head of relations at Virgin Galactic and that’s how he met Ashton, who is going to be one of the early space travelers," the source added a month before the couples' went to Saint Tropez, France, on a vacation together. 

The That 70's Show alum eventually sold his ticket to space.  

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Reese Witherspoon

The Legally Blonde star found herself forming a connection with Kate right after the royal tied the knot with her husband.

"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," Witherspoon wrote in her book, Whiskey in a Teacup.

For the actress, the shocking friendship was a one-of-a-kind experience.

"The scream that issued from my lips upon receiving it — you would have thought I was going to die," she wrote at the time. "I was up at 4 am doing my hair. That's early, even for me. I was up, dressed, and waiting by the door by 7 am. Jim [Toth] 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!"

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Ben Affleck

A family trip to the U.K. didn't go exactly as Affleck had initially planned.

"Despite going to Windsor Castle, Tower of London and Buckingham Palace, we didn’t see one royal. Then when it was raining I took my youngest to one of those kids' indoor play parks. It was pretty empty, and then I noticed this weird vibe from the other grownups," the Batman actor recalled on The Graham Norton Show in November 2016.

He continued: "I thought, 'For a kids' place, this is tight security!' I was the very last person to realize that Prince George and Princess Charlotte were in there playing with my kid. I can now tell him that he got a cold from the king of England!"

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Cate Blanchett

“I thought, ‘He’s invited me to lunch to tell me about his DVD player!’” Blanchett joked about Philip asking her to help him watch movies during The Jonathan Ross Show in September 2018.

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Tom Wlaschiha

They are Game of Thrones fans just like us! 

Wlaschiha revealed that his encounter with William and Kate in Berlin took an interesting turn when they asked him for spoilers.

“They said they really liked Game of Thrones and have watched every series,” Wlaschiha told the Evening Standard in July 2017. “They wanted spoilers but I said I couldn’t tell them. I’m surprised they have time to watch such a long running series.”

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Margot Robbie

Even though the Suicide Squad star is friendly with Prince Harry now, they didn't get off on the right foot when she confused him with Ed Sheeran.

"I'd had a drink or drinks. I thought I was hanging out with Ed Sheeran. I was thinking 'Ed's a really cool guy. I'm going to take some pictures with him,'" Robbie told The Sun in June 2016.

The I, Tonya actress admitted that the Duke of Sussex got offended during the Christmas party, but the duo seemingly moved on from the mistake.

"Everyone now thinks if they come on a night out with me in London they'll bump into Prince Harry," the actress joked at the time.

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David Duchovny

Duchnovny literally left Charles speechless as he tried to explain the term "booty call" to the royal during a concert.

"And he said, 'Oh...'" the Californication alum added on The Late Late Show With James Corden in May 2018.