Queen Elizabeth ‘hit it off’ with Tom Cruise before her death
Queen Elizabeth II reportedly struck up an adorable friendship with an unlikely Hollywood star in the weeks before her death.
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Queen Elizabeth II reportedly made an unlikely new friend in the weeks before her death: A-list actor Tom Cruise.
The monarch and the Top Gun and Mission Impossible star “really hit it off” over the British summer, a source told The Sunday Times of London.
Cruise, 60, appeared as part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, marking her 70th anniversary on the throne, but the ailing royal was plagued by mobility issues and unable to meet him, reports The New York Post.
“The Queen let it be known that she was really disappointed not to have met Tom at the pageant, so he was invited to have a special tour of Windsor Castle with everything laid on for him. Afterwards, just the two of them had tea together,” the source said.
The visit was a success, with Cruise given the chance to fire a ceremonial gun.
“She loved seeing him and they really hit it off, so much so that she invited him back for lunch. He was even allowed to fly in by helicopter,” the source added.
The budding friendship was to continue with a lunch date, but it wasn’t to be: Elizabeth died on September 8, aged 96, before they could reunite.
Before appearing as part of the Platinum Jubilee’s Gallop Through History equine pageant in May, Cruise spoke during a television interview of his admiration for the Queen.
“She’s just a woman that I greatly admire. I think she is someone who has tremendous dignity and I admire her devotion. What she has accomplished has been historic,” he said at the time.
This article originally appeared in The New York Post and was reproduced with permission.
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