Emilia Clarke Made a Major Royal Faux Pas When She Met Prince William

We all know that the royals abide by a (slightly bizarre) set of strict rules. But what we didn’t know is that, apparently, regular people have them too. Not that Game of Thrones actress Emilia Clarke can really be described as “regular.”

According to a team that supports the Royal Family, there are a couple of rules that come into play when you meet with a royal. For example, you must first address Prince William as “your Royal Highness,” before you can call him Prince William. And you can’t turn your back to him, like, ever. When Clarke learned the rules, she was cool as a cucumber—but that all went out the window when the Duke of Cambridge himself entered the room.

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“For whatever reason, maybe because I was so scared, I couldn’t manage to get out Your Royal Highness, so it was kind of like ‘ra… ra…’, it was pretty much all I managed,” Clarke said on a recent episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers. We can’t imagine Clarke being nervous about meeting someone famous, but apparently, the royals are truly on another level.

Despite the unsuccessful greeting, Clarke seemed to reflect on the situation lightheartedly. But she likely won’t be forgetting it anytime soon!