After more than a decade of marriage to Prince William and living in the spotlight as his longtime girlfriend for years before that, it goes without saying that Kate Middleton knows how to handle the public. But how does she stay polite when people inevitably ask her something she’d simply rather not talk about? As she does with everything else, of course Kate has a tactic in place for that situation – something actor Rami Malek found out firsthand.
One of Rami’s past appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live! is getting attention this week thanks to the story he shared about his encounter with the royals at the 2019 BAFTAs. At first, it seemed like the Bohemian Rhapsody star came away with a good first impression of Will and Kate.
“They work so hard to get to know everybody,” he told Jimmy. “Who’s done whatever film they’ve done, their past films, and you can see they’ve done their homework.”
But it was when he tried to talk to Kate on a more personal level that things started to go downhill.
“I just looked at Princess Kate at one point, and I said, ‘This must be exhausting.’ And she said, ‘Why?’ And I said, ‘You just had a baby, right?'” he recalled.
At that point, Prince Louis would have been about 10 months old, so although Kate wouldn’t have been freshly postpartum, his birth was still pretty recent. But rather than open up about the struggles adjusting to life as a mom of three, Rami said Kate immediately tried to change the subject.
“I think she was taken aback,” he admitted. “She said, ‘How are you doing?’ and I said, ‘No, how are you?’ and in the most regal and elegant way, she gave me a look.”
Jimmy reminded him that the royals have to be aware that everyone is going to want to know what they said during conversations like this, and Rami agreed. He wasn’t insulted by Kate’s “look” and said that through their whole exchange, she kept things “elegant, professional, royal.”
But instead of letting it go, Rami decided to crack a joke, which may not have been his best move.
“I said, ‘You know, if you ever need time off, I’m backup for you,'” he recalled to the talk show host. “She’s like, ‘What do you mean?’ I go, ‘I can babysit. You guys go out, have a good time.'”
Needless to say, Will and Kate never took Rami up on his offer to babysit. Maybe in the future, if the offer still stands?
