Helena Bonham Carter, who plays Princess Margaret in the latest series of Netflix’s The Crown, recently shared one of her own run-ins with royalty.
The actor stopped by Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen on Tuesday night and confirmed a fan’s inquiry that she once asked Prince William to be her daughter’s godfather when she was a bit intoxicated.
“I wasn’t that drunk, but enough drunk for me not to drink anymore,” she explained to Andy Cohen. “He wasn’t totally sober himself ― not in a bad way, it was just very jolly.”
Which sounds like just the right mood to ask someone for a massive, massive favour.
“Thing is, I’d spent all my friends as godparents on my first child, so Billy had 11 godparents. And so I thought I could make up for Nell ― you know, who suddenly came along and we didn’t have any left. I thought, ‘Well, if I give her Prince William that would cover,’ you know?”
But it seems the prince wasn’t ready for the responsibility.
“He just said, ‘You don’t want me to be godfather to your child.’ And I left and obviously it didn’t work out. Funny enough,” she said.
When Helena first relayed the story to People back in 2014, she said that she propositioned the Duke back when he they were all vacationing on the island of Mustique ― a royal family favorite ― and he was dating Kate Middleton.
It’s a bit unclear now how the prince would react to Helena starring in a fictionalised series based on his family, particularly as it seems he didn’t have the most enthusiastic reaction when greeting another actor from the series, Olivia Colman, who plays Queen Elizabeth II in the show.
“He asked what I was doing at the moment before he quickly added, ‘Actually, I know what you’re doing,’” Olivia revealed during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show back in August. “I was so excited and asked, ‘Have you watched it?’”
She responded that William’s answer “was a firm, ‘no,’” but added that the prince was “very charming and very lovely” throughout their encounter.