The "Cheeky" Joke Prince William Made Referencing a Former Queen at Formal Windsor Castle Event

Prince William conducted an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle on June 11, where he handed out honors to a number of recipients. Bad Sisters actress Anne-Marie Duff was in attendance, and was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to drama. According to Duff, the Prince of Wales made a brilliant joke about a former monarch at the prestigious event.

Alongside her award-winning Bad Sisters role, Duff also portrayed Queen Elizabeth I in the TV series The Virgin Queen. Speaking to PA News (via The Independent), Duff revealed that Prince William told her, "This should all be old hat for you, or something," on account of her role playing Elizabeth I.

Describing her experience attending the regal event, Duff told the outlet, "[Windsor Castle] is like a treasure chest, isn't it? Because every piece of every room is swollen with history and art and value, so it's very specific."

The actress continued, "To be in this environment where people do live and do sit down and have their dinner and all of those things—you know, when you're on location, you don't really have that feeling of something like that, but this is someone's home, which is just extraordinary to me."

Duff also revealed that she discussed balancing work alongside parental responsibilities with the Prince of Wales. According to the actress, William shared "how we're all kind of the same" when it comes to juggling family with work. Duff, of course, shares one son, Brendan, with her ex-husband, James McAvoy.

While speaking with PA News, Duff also dished on her upcoming work projects, saying, "There's so much nonsense now, you can't even read scripts now without NDAs [non-disclosure agreements]."

She continued, "The streamers are like old Hollywood studios, it's like that, it's so bonkers, so you don't get to sort of enjoy the prelude to things with people—you can't say, oh my god, yeah, I'm going to be doing [this]. You have to keep everything on the down-low."