'I always felt a bit sorry for him.'
It seems like everybody in the upper echelons of British society seem to have crossed paths in some way, though Prince William and Eddie Redmayne’s connection was one that took us by surprise. It turns out the pair attended Eton College together as boys and were actually closer than you might expect, as the Fantastic Beasts star revealed they both were on the school’s rugby team. Although it’s a pretty cool opportunity for a mic drop on Redmayne’s part, it turns out that it wasn’t all fun and games for Prince William on the field. It turns out that he was frequently singled out by other rugby teams as a prime target.
While starring on the talk show Watch What Happens Live! with Andy Cohen, Redmayne was asked by a fan about his unexpected link to the royal. They asked, ‘Since you played rugby with Prince William, have you played rugby with him since?’
Although Redmayne didn’t reveal whether he and Prince William had nipped out for a quick game recently, he did dish on their time back at school together. He said, ‘I did play rugby with Prince William. I always felt a bit sorry for him.’
It’s hard to believe now that we’d have any reason to feel sorry for the royal, but yikes - his rugby career sounds like it was marred with bruises.
Redmayne elaborated, ‘Any school you played - all they wanted to do was tackle Prince William so that they could say, ‘I tackled Prince William.’’
And honestly, it doesn't sound like he was joking. We went through the archives and managed to find a picture of Prince William back in 1995, with a few guys double the size of him hot on his tail.
As for whether Redmayne also had a tough time? Well, it sounds like it was easy going for him as he continued, ‘If you were standing next to Prince William like I was, it was actually quite easy and quite fun.’
So there you have it folks, Newt Scamander’s the kind of guy that will happily throw people under the bus to get ahead in life. (We’re joking, obviously.)
Since the interview went live, the Mirror kindly brought the most amazing photograph of Redmayne and Prince William to our attention. An Eddie Redmayne Twitter fan account posted a photo of the pair back at Eton goofing off with the rest of their classmates, both dressed in the goofiest waistcoat. While Prince William chose to walk on the wild side with tiger stripes, Redmayne’s Pringles waistcoat had us full on cackling at the office.
It looks like it was some kind of inside joke between the pair, as the rest of their classmates were dressed in comparatively boring waistcoats. We need to know the story behind this picture, can anyone drop them a line and find out?
We’re secretly hoping that Prince William and Eddie Redmayne both still have those waistcoats at the back of their closet, waiting for the day that they have an Eton reunion. Bring out the Pringles waistcoat again Redmayne, the world deserves to witness its glory.
