How Beyonce Broke Royal Protocol With Meghan Markle's Appearance at 'Lion King' Premiere
It turns out Beyonce and JAY-Z disrupted royal security’s carefully laid plans at the Lion King premiere in London on Sunday.
A source tells ET that the songstress and her husband, JAY-Z, breached royal protocol by arriving after Prince Harry and Meghan Meghan. The source adds that, when Beyonce and her hubby did arrive, they "completely upstaged" the royals, even getting a bigger cheer from the throng of onlookers who had congregated in Leicester Square.
On Monday, royal expert Katie Nicholl also weighed in on the minor breach, telling ET, "Well, Beyonce did break protocol because she turned up after the royals. Well, that is a big no-no because when it’s a royal premiere, the royals should be the last people to arrive."
"Hugging a royal, no, it's not standard protocol," she added of Beyonce and Meghan's meeting. "So yeah, I think Beyonce got special treatment by Their Royal Highnesses. They were really, really thrilled to meet her, as told by a palace source. It was the very first time, in fact, that either Meghan or Harry had met Beyonce. And you could see that. ... [Beyonce] also embraced both of the royals. There's a lot of sort of very tactile chemistry going on with Beyonce with her hand around Meghan's lower back, and also with Harry's two kisses for her as well -- certainly not what we usually expect of royal protocol."
Since photos and videos of Beyonce and Meghan’s meeting have emerged, fans have begun to learn segments of what the two world-famous women discussed during their chat.
When they embraced, the singer was recorded calling Meghan "my princess."
Also, Beyonce was overheard complimenting Harry and Meghan's newborn son, baby Archie, telling Meghan, "the baby, so beautiful" and later explaining to the duchess that both she and her husband "love you guys," according to multiple outlets.
Harry, who was late to the conversation, reportedly told the singer, "You've been rather busy."
The rapper later told the prince: "Congrats on the birth of your baby."
On Monday, ET's royal expert, Katie Nicholl, also weighed in on the minor breach, stating, "Well, Beyonce did break protocol because she turned up after the royals. Well, that is a big no-no because when it’s a royal premiere, the royals should be the last people to arrive."
"Hugging a royal, no, it's not standard protocol," she added. "So yeah, I think Beyonce got special treatment by Their Royal Highnesses. They were really, really thrilled to meet her, as told by a palace source. It was the very first time, in fact, that either Meghan or Harry had met Beyonce. And you could see that."
Nicholl added: "[Beyonce] also embraced both of the royals. There's a lot of, sort of, very tactile chemistry going on with Beyonce, with her hand around her Meghan's lower back and also on Harry's two kisses. For Harry as well, there's a very tactile, very affectionate greeting. Certainly not what we usually expect of royal protocol."
The Lion King cast couldn't get over Meghan and Harry's appearance at the premiere. Billy Eichner revealed to ET at the event that he and the Duchess of Sussex actually go way back.
"Actually Meghan Markle and I went to the same college. We both went to Northwestern. We were both theater majors at Northwestern, and I think she was a freshman when I was a senior, so I'm going to see which acting teacher she had and if we can compare notes," he said, joking they'd be "out all night" at the after-party together.
"I'm very excited [to meet her and Harry]. I never even thought about meeting them, or thought I would have an opportunity to, and they seem very cool, so I'm excited," he shared.
The premiere is Meghan’s latest public appearance since the birth of her son in May. She made two appearances at Wimbledon in recent weeks to watch her friend Serena Williams compete. Meghan was also spotted on the sidelines of the King Power Charity Polo Day, in which Harry competed, at Billingbear Polo Club in Berkshire on July 10. By her side was Kate Middleton, who brought her three kids -- 5-year-old George, 4-year-old Charlotte, and 1-year-old Louis -- and watched Prince William play on the opposite team.
See more on Meghan and Harry below.
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