It's natural to be nervous when you're meeting the royals, but singer Paloma Faith's experience with the Princess of Wales was a little different than most. In 2023 she performed at the Royal Variety show and chatted to Kate and Prince William afterwards, before bringing up a topic she quickly regretted.
Paloma detailed the awkward faux pas on the latest episode of her Mad Sad Bad podcast which featured the comedian Rosie Jones. Rosie was there at the Royal Variety performance too when the singer talked to Kate about her weight after giving birth to Prince Louis in 2018.
"'I said, 'Didn't you look good post-partum, Kate. How have you lost that weight so quickly?'" Paloma recalled, adding that they "chatted about kids and stuff".
Paloma Faith recently welcomed her third child - a little brother for her two daughters, one of whom is two years older than Louis and the other is three years younger.
After mentioning post-partum weight to the future Queen, she then looked for ways to escape the conversation and ended up turning to Rosie. The comedian has ataxic cerebral palsy and Paloma said she helped her in a non-politically correct way.
She explained, "Then I looked at [Rosie] and thought, 'Can we just say that, because you're disabled, we have to go, and you need me to help you?' Then everyone was, like, 'Rosie said she needs Paloma to take her because of the stairs.'"
"[Rosie] helped me in a very non-PC way by allowing me to abuse and use her disability to get myself out of a potentially uncomfortable situation with some Royal Family members," the Only Love Can Hurt Like This singer continued.
Thankfully for Paloma, the conversation doesn't seem to have soured her acquaintance with the Princess, who invited her to perform at the 2024 Together at Christmas carol service. The pair were photographed happily chatting and laughing - and this time I'd imagine she definitely kept post-partum weight out of the conversation.
Whilst this topic is admittedly quite an awkward one to bring up, especially to the Princess of Wales, she's always very happy to talk about her children. At this year's BAFTAs she spoke about how she has "hard conversations" with Prince George, Charlotte and Louis and at the 2025 Royal Variety show, Kate teased that they'd be "sad" they missed out on the evening which included an appearance by Paddington.
Paloma Faith is also not the first and won't be the last person to make a faux pas when meeting the royals. Hilariously in 2020 the Princess was mistaken for Prince William's assistant during a visit to Shire Hall Care Home in Cardiff. They were re-introduced to resident Joan Drew-Smith, who they'd done virtual bingo with at an engagement earlier in the year.
At the time her honesty about their poor skills made headlines and she was equally direct in person, asking William, "Is that your assistant?"
Kate laughed and placed her hand on her husband's shoulder, replying, "Well I am your assistant! I have been for a long time!"
