What began with a shared love of flying has evolved into a close friendship built on blockbuster films, charitable causes and mutual admiration. Here’s how Prince William and Tom Cruise became unlikely friends
Over the years, Prince William’s admiration for Hollywood icon Tom Cruise has blossomed into an unlikely bromance, fuelled by a shared passion for flying, blockbuster films and charitable causes.
Prince William has admitted he is “a little biased” when it comes to choosing his favourite film thanks to his close bond with the Mission: Impossible star.
Speaking at the 2026 BAFTA Film Awards, William was asked to name his favourite film and immediately referenced Cruise’s smash-hit sequel Top Gun: Maverick, which celebrated the 40th anniversary of the original Top Gun in May.
“I’ve got to be careful because I’m a little biased to a particular person,” William joked, before adding: “But Top Gun 2, for instance, is one of the most incredible films I’ve watched in a long time.”
It’s not just William who’s a fan. The Prince revealed that Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis also love Cruise’s high-octane films.
“For me and watching with my children, they absolutely adore it,” William explained. “As much as they love the arty ones, they like the stunts and he takes it so seriously and he cares about cinema.”
A royal screening
When Tom discovered the prince – a former RAF search and rescue pilot and air ambulance pilot himself – was a huge fan of the 1986 classic, he arranged a private screening of Top Gun: Maverick for him and Kate.
The royal couple enjoyed the exclusive IMAX screening in London’s Leicester Square with family members including Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie and Sophie, then Countess of Wessex, months before the film reached cinemas.
Cruise later confirmed he had personally organised the viewing. “He’s an aviator, so I knew he’d have a lot of fun,” the Hollywood star said
Just weeks later, William and Kate reunited with Cruise at the film’s glittering London premiere. The trio were seen laughing together on the red carpet, while Cruise offered Kate his hand as she walked up the steps in her elegant Roland Mouret gown.
Following the event, Cruise thanked the Prince and Princess of Wales in a video message, saying: “It’s such a privilege to have you here and it’s such a privilege to be in your country.”
Bonded by aviation
Behind the glamorous red carpet appearances lies a genuine shared passion. Cruise has repeatedly said he and William “have a lot in common”.
“We both love England, and we’re both aviators. We both love flying,” he said in 2022.
William’s years as an RAF search and rescue pilot before later working as an East Anglian Air Ambulance pilot have given him plenty to talk about with Cruise, who famously performs many of his own aerial stunts and is a qualified pilot himself.
Although the pair have yet to fly together, Cruise has hinted it’s only a matter of time.
“Pilots are pilots. We all want to go flying,” he said.
Royal expert Richard Eden has even claimed the pair have “developed quite a friendship over the years”, largely thanks to their mutual passion for aviation.
Supporting each other’s causes
In February 2024, Cruise joined William at the London’s Air Ambulance Charity Gala Dinner to help raise money for two new helicopters.
The event came just weeks after King Charles announced his cancer diagnosis, with Kate also recovering from abdominal surgery before later revealing her own cancer diagnosis.
William thanked guests for their support, saying: “I’d like to take this opportunity to say thank you for the kind messages of support for Catherine and for my father. It means a great deal to us all.”
He then lightened the mood with a playful joke aimed at Cruise.
“I should also take this opportunity to give a mention to my – our – fellow pilot, Tom Cruise,” William said.
“Tom, huge thanks for supporting us tonight. And Tom, if you wouldn’t mind not borrowing either of the new helicopters for the next Mission: Impossible, it would be appreciated. We’ve all seen on our screens that 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 has also thrown his weight behind William’s Earthshot Prize. During the 2025 awards ceremony in Rio de Janeiro, the actor made a surprise video appearance in which he referred to the future King as his “dear friend”.
The Hollywood star has also shown his affection for the wider Royal Family. For King Charles’ Coronation Concert in 2023, Cruise recorded a special video message telling the monarch: “Pilot to pilot, Your Majesty, you can be my wingman any time.”
A friendship decades in the making
However, the Cruise connection with the Royal Family actually stretches back more than three decades.
Princess Diana alongside Cruise and his then-wife Nicole Kidman at the London premiere of Far and Away in 1992.
Four years later, Diana reportedly took young Princes William and Harry to the set of the first Mission: Impossible film, where they met Cruise and watched him filming action scenes.
More than 30 years later, that childhood meeting has evolved into one of the Royal Family’s most unexpected celebrity friendships.
With one man Hollywood royalty and the other destined to become King, William and Cruise have forged a bond that appears to be built on far more than red carpet photo opportunities. Whether they’re joking about helicopters, celebrating blockbuster films or championing each other’s charitable work, their unlikely bromance shows no sign of slowing down.
