When Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, visited New York in 2014, the royals enjoyed themselves at a basketball game. On December 8, 2014, they went to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn to watch the Cleveland Cavaliers take on the Brooklyn Nets. They met legend LeBron James, who gifted the couple with two Cavaliers jerseys, one that read “Cambridge” and one that said “George” for their son. This, of course, was back when they were the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
During a photo-op after the gifts, James put his arm around Catherine and sparked conversation about the age-old question about touching royals. As USA Today notes, both William and Catherine are famously more relaxed about those kinds of traditions. In fact, the outlet notes that during the game, William touched the arm of NBA legend Dikembe Mutombo as they were speaking, so they obviously have a more easy breezy attitude about physical interaction.
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As for James, he shared a photo of the moment on Instagram, when he was giving William and Catherine the jerseys. His caption implied he knew that the meeting sparked some controversy but he wasn’t buying into it. “This very moment will be forever remembered and put up in my house. It’s all good and all smiles on this side,” he wrote. William and Catherine’s smiles in the photo seem to indicate that everyone was really relaxed and having a great time.
