Even Beyoncé Was Nervous to Meet Meghan Markle at 'The Lion King' Premiere

I am still crushing hard over the meeting between Meghan Markle and Beyonce. Billy Eichner, who plays Timon, gave us all the behind-the-scene deets on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

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(Image credit: NIKLAS HALLE'N)

I am still crushing hard over the meet-and-greet between two royal goddesses, Meghan Markle and Beyoncé. And now we know even more details on what happened: Billy Eichner, who plays Timon, gave us all the behind-the-scene deets in an interview last night on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. "We were all kind of nervous, even Beyoncé," he said. I'm shocked—I didn't even realize Beyoncé GOT nervous—but, I mean, relatable.

"In the days leading up to you, they email you a protocol of how you're supposed to greet Prince Harry and Meghan and they're very intense about it," he added. Among other things, attendees were instructed to refer to Meghan and Harry as "your royal highness" and not address them until shaking their hands.

Of course, Beyonce went right ahead and called Meghan "My princess," because she does what she wants and also that title is much better.

"I completely freaked out, although they were very very nice and totally chill and down to earth and lovely," said Billy (again, understandable). But apparently they actually bonded in a major way, which is actually a really sweet detail: "Meghan and I went to the same college in Northwestern. We were both theater majors. I didn't know her when we were theater. So we had this strange conversation about our acting teachers."

So there you have it. Meghan was down-to-earth, and friendly, and made everyone feel really welcome and appreciated. No surprise.

Here's video of that iconic Beyoncé-Meghan moment (it's around the five minute mark, if you want to fast-forward), as well as meet-and-greets with other castmembers and interviews with the cast:

Ah-MAZE-ing.

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Katherine J. Igoe
Contributor

Katherine’s a Boston-based contributor at Marie Claire who covers fashion, culture, and lifestyle—from “Clueless” to Everlane to news about Lizzo. She’s been a freelancer for 11 years and has had roles with Cosmopolitan and Bustle, with bylines in Parents, Seventeen, and elsewhere. It’s “I go to dinner,” not “Her huge ego,” but she responds to both.