Kate Middleton's Awkward Exchange With 'Smitten' Tom Cruise Goes Viral

The Princess of Wales' exchange with Hollywood movie star Tom Cruise during a 2022 movie premiere in London has resurfaced on social media site TikTok, after initial fan reaction to their interaction was split.

Kate and Cruise attended a number of the same events in 2022, including a special Platinum Jubilee equestrian pageant at Windsor Castle for Queen Elizabeth II, and the Wimbledon tennis championships in London.

However, the pair were only shown interacting at a U.K. movie premiere held in London's Leicester Square for Cruise's blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick.

Kate attended the event as a guest of honor alongside husband, Prince William, and the princess made a striking impression in a sleek monochrome gown made by French designer Roland Mouret.

The royal couple were met on the red carpet by Cruise and several the movie's starring cast. It was Cruise's gesture to Kate as she ascended a flight of specially erected stairs on the carpet that became the most talked about moment of the evening.

Uploaded to TikTok by user, catherinegulgapar, on September 4, resurfaced footage of the interaction shows Kate greeting Cruise before the star offered to take her by the hand as she climbed the stairs.

The princess initially accepted, and after climbing the first flight with Cruise's assistance, tackled the second set alone. In between steps, fans spotted that Kate moved her clutch bag from one hand to the other, with some suggesting this was to avoid Cruise awkwardly repeating the chivalrous gesture.

Captioned "Tom Cruise smitten with Princess Catherine," the video has been viewed over 120,000 times on the social media platform so far. The clip has also received in excess of 6,000 likes and numerous comments, many of which reflected on the hand holding controversy that ensued.

"Everyone is smitten with Catherine," wrote one user.

"Must have been awkward for him, but he was just being a gentleman," posted another, with a further comment reading: "I wouldn't want Tom Cruise touching me either!"

At the time of the event in May 2022, no comment about the evening was given by Kensington Palace and Cruise has not mentioned it in subsequent interviews.

Some social media users suggested that it was against royal protocol to hold a member of the royal family's hand. However, there is no official protocol regarding this form of physical contact.

Cruise and Kate were reunited two months after the Top Gun premiere at the Wimbledon Championships where they watched the women's singles final match between Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina and Tunisia's Ons Jabeur.

Cruise has had a number of royal interactions over the course of his long Hollywood career.

In 1997, he was one of the Hollywood elite invited to attend the funeral of Princess Diana, alongside his then wife, Nicole Kidman.

Cruise and Kidman were photographed meeting Diana in 1992 at the London premiere for their movie, Far and Away.

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

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