Paul McCartney Playfully Teases Kate Middleton About Her Age During Gallery Opening
Rock and roll royalty met the future queen of the United Kingdom when Paul McCartney and Kate Middleton crossed paths at the National Portrait Gallery in London. McCartney was there ahead of his photography exhibit and to help reopen the gallery. However, Middleton likely didn’t expect to get teased about her age in some good-natured fun with The Beatles legend.
Paul McCartney playfully teased Kate Middleton about her age
The Beatles bassist attended the National Portrait Gallery before debuting his Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64 Eyes of the Storm photography exhibit. Kate Middleton opened the gallery after it had undergone a three-year refurbishment.
The Princess of Wales and McCartney were captured by photographers alongside McCartney’s wife, Nancy Shevell. The couple were there to attend the opening.
However, Kate likely didn’t expect some good-natured ribbing from McCartney over her age. Shevell also was targeted by her husband for the same reason.
He told Kate his photography exhibition focused on a specific period, “when you weren’t even born.” McCartney then turned to his wife of 12 years and joked, “Oh, you weren’t either.”
Paul McCartney’s photography exhibit features images from his early Beatle years
The National Portrait Gallery exhibit displays photographs Paul McCartney took during the early years of The Beatles. The featured subjects of the images include Beatles bandmates John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr.
The images give an inside look at what it was like to be at the center of Beatlemania. The photos captured the band’s essence when they were the most photographed musicians in the world.
The featured photographs are McCartney’s records of this historical period in music. They were shot in six cities: Liverpool, London, Paris, New York, Washington, D.C., and Miami.
Per McCartney’s official website, the musician says, “What else can you call it—pandemonium.” He then shares, through photographs, his impressions of Britain and America in 1964.
Paul McCartney and the royal family have been friendly for years
The Beatles bassist began his longstanding friendship with members of the royal family in 1963. He first met Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, after a 1963 Royal Variety performance.
Three years later, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison received MBE medals from Queen Elizabeth. These medals made the quartet Members of the Order of the British Empire.
In 1996, McCartney invited Queen Elizabeth to Liverpool for the opening of his performing arts school. Just one year later, he was knighted by the monarch for his contribution to the music business. His title: Sir Paul McCartney.
In 2002, he performed at the Queen’s Jubilee at Buckingham Palace. McCartney was made a Companion of Honor by Queen Elizabeth in 2018 for his lasting contribution to music in the United Kingdom and worldwide.
McCartney honored the queen after her 2022 death. He wrote on his official website that he estimates he met Queen Elizabeth II “eight or nine times,” and “each time she impressed me with her great sense of humor combined with great dignity.”
