Tom Cruise’s interactions
with Kate Middleton at the royal charity premiere of his Top
Gun Sequel Top Gun: Maverick have divided opinion on social
media, with some users hailing him as a “gentleman” and others
claiming that the royal awkwardly stopped the star from holding her hand.
Kate and William attended the
premiere on Thursday in London’s Leicester Square, marking the 72nd Royal Film
Performance raising money for The Film and TV Charity of which Queen
Elizabeth II is the patron.
When the royals arrived on the
red carpet, which featured a model fighter jet, they were greeted by Cruise,
who escorted them to meet the fellow cast and crew members.
In a TikTok video posted by
user mrstevenhargrave, the royals are shown a meeting cruise, over which a
narration reads “Tom waits for no one—except a future King.”
The star is shown to nod his
head as William and Kate approach before William presents his wife to Cruise
and greets the actor himself.
A later move by Cruise sparked
discussion online after he offered to take Kate’s hand as she climbed a flight
of stairs to greet a lineup of cast members. The duchess was wearing a figure-hugging black and white evening gown with high heels and video footage shows
her accepting the gesture that users have called “gentlemanly”
online.
Others have suggested that
Kate wasn’t so thrilled with the offer as after climbing one flight of steps
she is seen to change which hand she was holding her handbag into Cruise’s
side and ascended the last flight solo.
Ironically, the theme song
for Top Gun: Maverick, performed in the movie by Lady Gaga, is
titled Hold My Hand.
Sky News Australia contributor
Dr Erin Watson took to Twitter to post: “Kate Middleton then
immediately switched her clutch so he didn’t touch her again as she went up the
next set of stairs like a total #bossroyal who wasn’t going to be touched by
Tom Cruise.”
Adding: “Kate Middleton
is all of us strategically shifting our clutch because someone thinks they can
touch you but #nope”
