Prince William and Princess Catherine Middleton have beaten Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at their own game after flaunting their popularity with Hollywood’s elite last month.
The Prince and Princess of Wales, both 44, attended the London premiere of Tom Cruise’s latest film Digger on September 22, after which the acting legend, 64, complimented Kate on her “great sense of humour” and sensationally claimed William made a “smart choice” in making her his wife.
However, the public praise will no doubt go down like a lead balloon with the Duke, 42, and Duchess of Sussex, 45, who despite living in the United States for six years, failed to win over the Hollywood crowd.
Now, an insider has told Heatworld that the couple are sure that the Waleses are rubbing salt in their wounds and purposefully flaunting their A-list connections.
“They are both convinced that William and Kate made an extra big show of their friendship with Tom Cruise to try and upset them, and it worked. They would love to have Tom kissing up to them the way he does with William and Kate,” the source told the publication.
They added that it is “no secret” that the Sussexes had high hopes of being part of the Hollywood in-crowd when they made the move to the US in 2020, but “that just hasn’t happened”.
“Instead, they’ve gone back to England with their tails between their legs and they’re now having to watch William and Kate parading around on the red carpet like a couple of Hollywood stars.”
The insider added that “the irony is infuriating”.
Cruise has long been friends with Prince William and Princess Kate, with the future king and queen attending his Top Gun: Maverick premiere in 2022.
The Mission Impossible star also shared a sweet moment with Prince Willaim at the London Air Ambulance Charity Gala in London in February 2024, where the royal joked about Cruise’s dangerous stunts in the film franchise.
“Tom, if you wouldn’t mind not borrowing either of the new helicopters for the next Mission Impossible, it would be appreciated,” he said.
“You seem to have a different take on ‘normal wear and tear’ to the rest of us. It’s not the kind that buffs out.”
Cruise isn’t the only big-name star that the Prince of Wales has become acquainted with over the years.
Thanks to the royal’s Earthshot Prize initiative, he has worked alongside various A-listers, including Robert Irwin, Cate Blanchett and Gisele Bundchen.
“William has been on this huge push to gather as many big Hollywood stars as he can for his charity and if you ask Harry and Meghan, that’s his way of trying to one-up them because he thinks it somehow proves he’s better,” an insider told Heatworld.
They went on to claim that the Sussexes are “paranoid” that William and Kate are talking badly about them to their A-lister friends, and are concerned they may be “running a smear campaign” behind their backs.
To make matters worse for Harry and Meghan, also in attendance at the Digger premiere was their former friend David Beckham, 51.
William, Catherine, Cruise and Beckham posed for a picture at the glitzy do, reminding fans of the friendship breakdown between the Sussexes and the Beckhams.
It was reported in 2018 that Meghan accused Victoria Beckham, 52, of leaking stories to the media.
Outlets at the time revealed that the Duchess’ claims led to Harry confronting David via phone call, a move that left the former England captain “furious” and marked the beginning of a long-standing rift.
Heatworld alleges that the Sussexes are “convinced” that Prince William has played a part in their souring relations with the Beckhams, as whenever they try to make amends with the couple, they are “shut down or ignored completely”.