Martin Kemp's unexpected but sweet friendship with Princess Kate Middleton
"You never expect to see a member of the royal family in their socks!"TV star Roman Kemp has opened up on his father Martin Kemp’s unexpected but sweet friendship with Princess Kate Middleton.
Spandau Ballet star Martin’s son shared a “surreal” story of having the Princess of Wales round for “tea and biscuits” at their family home.
Singer Martin is currently starring on ITV’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!.
Princess Kate’s visit to Martin and Shirlie Kemp’s home
Roman made the revelation while discussing his dad’s current I’m A Celeb stint with The Sun.
Host of BBC’s The One Show said that Kate had contacted him a few years ago to discuss a mental health project.
Back in 2023, Roman, who has been open about his mental health struggles, took part in an interview with the princess as part of her Shaping Us project.
The campaign, launched through Kate’s The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, examined how the early years of someone’s life can affect them as they get older.
Suddenly the future queen is having tea and biscuits with her and my dad!
“A member of the palace team asked me if they could set up a Zoom call to discuss the details,” Roman explained to the newspaper, adding: “I was expecting a load of people on the call and couldn’t believe it when it turned out to be just me and her.”
When Kate requested filming at Roman’s house, he apparently suggested instead filming at his parents, Martin Kemp and Wham! star Shirlie’s place, which is apparently “much nicer”.
“So my mum raced out and got a load of nice things in,” he recalled. “Suddenly the future queen is having tea and biscuits with her and my dad!”
In particular, Roman was struck by the princess taking her shoes off at the door.
“It was surreal. Somehow you never expect to see a member of the royal family in their socks!” he mused.
Roman had previously told The Times of this moment: “The funniest thing was she didn’t have any shoes on because she was respectful enough to take her shoes off at the door. That really stuck in my head because you never see royalty with no shoes.”
Martin Kemp’s gift for Princess Kate
Roman also revealed the sweet gift Martin and Shirlie had offered Kate, and the equally sweet gesture from the royal in response.
The Kemps apparently gave Kate some homemade apple juice to take home. They later received a thank you letter, saying that a certain Prince George had loved it, was there any chance of more.
Roman said that Kate had also written him a personal thank you letter, which he still has framed on his wall at home.
Following the Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnosis last year, Martin shared a sweet snap of Kate with his whole family, dog included, to his Instagram.
“Sending so much Kemp love to the Princess of Wales and all her family,” he supportively captioned the photo.
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