14 unlikely royal friendships that will surprise you

Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne went to school with Prince William at Eton and even played on the same rugby team. Although the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them actor says William was “substantially” the better player, “The thing about playing rugby with Prince William is it was great for us, because all the people from the other schools would want to tackle him because they could go home and tell their families they tackled Prince William. So we were sort of running around with no one on us,” he said in an interview. The schoolmates recently caught up a couple of years ago at an event, where Redmayne says they bonded over being new dads.

Soccer legend David Beckham might be a national United Kingdom treasure, and he certainly has the approval of the royal family. Beckham and his wife, Victoria, attended both Prince William’s and Prince Harry’s weddings. He even hung out with Queen Elizabeth at an event at Buckingham Palace. “I’ve been here a couple of times now, and every time it is very special,” Beckham told reporters. But Beckham cast his friendship with the princes in a more ordinary light. “It’s a very normal relationship,” he told Esquire.  “They’re very easy to get along with.”

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William and Harry aren’t the only royal members of their generation with celebrity friends. Their cousin Princess Beatrice, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson’s daughter, has her own BFF celeb pals in Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis. The princess reportedly met the couple through Beatrice’s now-ex, Dave Clark. The buds shared an Uber in New York City, hung out at a mutual friend’s wedding, and even vacationed together in St Tropez.

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Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, is a celebrity herself, so it’s not surprising that she has celebrity friends. But how does the former actress know tennis superstar Serena Williams, who attended her wedding to Prince Harry? According to reports, the BFFs met at a celebrity flag football game. “We hit it off immediately,” Markle wrote on her now-defunct website, The Tig. “She quickly became a confidante I would text when I was traveling, the friend I would rally around for her tennis matches, and the down-to-earth chick I was able to grab lunch with.” How sweet!

Talk about an unexpected duo! They seem like opposites, but the glamorous actress and the buttoned-up Brit bonded over a common cause: raising awareness of sexual violence. Humanitarian Jolie was in London a few years ago to give a talk at a global summit on the issue when she later met up with Camilla, who has also drawn attention to the cause in Britain and around the Commonwealth. The actress, who is an honorary British dame and has recently been in England, has also joined forces with the Queen on a conservation project.

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Although Sarah was super close with Diana, she was ironically also friends with Diana’s rival for Charles’ affections, Camilla. “Camilla is fabulous,” Sarah told Harper’s Bazaar.  “I’ve known her my entire life because she and my mother were always best friends, and she was so nice to me. I love her.”

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American musician Will.i.am, who’s also a judge on The Voice UK, has gotten tight with the York branch of the royal family. He first teamed up with Prince Andrew on a music charity, Inspired Digital Enterprise Award (iDEA), which helps young people developing digital businesses. The Prince told CNBC he met the rapper through his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson. The connection is even funnier because Will.i.am’s Black Eyed Peas bandmate, Fergie, whose real name is Stacy Ferguson, took her nickname from the royal Fergie – and even named her solo album The Dutchess. Of his first meeting with Sarah, Will.i.am says, “She was like, ‘Hello, Will.i.am, I don’t know if you know me but I am the original Fergie.’” Recently, when Black Eyed Peas’ Fergie couldn’t make their upcoming reunion tour, he joked to The Sun,  “I was gonna call Princess Beatrice and take her mum’s offer up – we’re going to bring the Duchess in. I’m sure nobody will notice.”

The singer met the prince in 2016 when both were visiting her native Barbados to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the country’s independence. Rihanna and Prince Harry enjoyed a concert together, and then the next day underwent HIV tests live on camera to promote World AIDS Day. Internet ‘shippers’ wanted the couple to start a relationship, but it seems the two did not remain close.

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Prince Harry and Barack Obama first connected over the Invictus Games, a competition for wounded veterans that Harry founded. The buds, along with Michelle Obama and the Queen, posted a hilarious video jokingly challenging each other to “bring it” at the games. And the prince has maintained his bromance with the former US president since he left office. In December 2017, Harry interviewed Obama on BBC Radio 4, asking both serious and not-so-serious questions, like “The Good Wife or Suits?”

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Who would have thought that the seemingly uptight prince and the brash comedian would have struck up a friendship? But the prince actually has a love for comedic acting, even performing himself while at Cambridge University, reports People. Rivers was a guest at his wedding to Camilla and performed at a charity comedy gala for his 60th birthday. Charles expressed his deep sadness at her death in 2014. “Joan Rivers was an extraordinary woman with an original and indefatigable spirit, an unstoppable sense of humour and an enormous zest for life,” he and Camilla said in a statement. “She will be hugely missed and utterly irreplaceable.”