The Royal Family often brush shoulders with famous celebrities and legends of stage and screen, but it is very rare for them to become one of the stars themselves.
While two actresses have previously married into the family, the public are not used to seeing royals dazzle on the silver screen.
The royal rulebook was thrown out in 2009 when Princess Beatrice made a notable cameo in a new film about her lookalike great-great-great-great grandmother, Queen Victoria.
Owing to her great interest in the famous monarch, Beatrice's mother, Sarah, Duchess of York served as a producer on this movie.
While the news of the princess's film role came as a complete surprise, it was not the last time a member of the family made a surprise appearance on our screens.
What do you think about Princess Beatrice's acting role? Let us know in the comments...
The Young Victoria was released in 2009 and follows the life of 18-year-old Queen Victoria in the first year of her reign. It shows the political contentions The Queen faced as her mother and her comptroller, Sir John Conroy, battled to get her to sign a regency order.
It shows her love match with her cousin, Prince Albert, and how many different politicians and parties tried to use the princess's position and naivety to their advantage.
The film stars Emily Blunt as Queen Victoria and Rupert Friend as Prince Albert. Other famous cast members include Jim Broadbent, Paul Bettany, Mark Strong, Harriet Walter and Miranda Richardson.
Princess Beatrice has a brief cameo at the beginning of the film as one of The Queen's Ladies-in-Waiting in the coronation scene. Her involvement in the project made a particular splash as it has been pointed out time and again just how similar the princess looks to her famous relative.
Fans on social media often comment on the resemblance. One user wrote: "Princess Beatrice of York looks like Queen Victoria. The eyes and nose! Always wondered where Bea got those huge eyes!"
Another added: "Can we just take a moment to recognise just how much Princess Beatrice looks like Queen Victoria but with the addition of flame red hair?" A final user agreed: "Can’t believe how much princess Beatrice looks like young Queen Victoria"
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Sarah, Duchess of York’s profound interest in Queen Victoria's life and history is well-known - so much so, that she named her two daughters after her.
Princess Beatrice was the name of the Queen’s youngest daughter and all three of Princess Eugenie’s names (Eugenie Victoria Helena) follow the same trend. Eugenie was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria (she later became Queen Eugenie of Spain) and Helena was another of the Queen’s daughters.
The princess carried on this trend when her son, August, was born in 2021. The name August was one of the names of Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert. He was christened as Franz Albert August Karl Emanuel.
Another potential royal link in the young royal's name is to Prince Augustus, Duke of Sussex - an eccentric son of King George III and favourite uncle of Queen Victoria.
Princess Beatrice isn't the only royal to have had a starring role in a blockbuster movie as her two cousins, Prince William and Prince Harry, also made cameo appearances in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
While it is thought that their scene was subsequently cut from the final film, the two princes are said to have dressed up as Stormtroopers alongside the likes of Tom Hardy and Gary Barlow for the short clip.
While not confirmed, it is thought that the scene was cut as any actors playing the iconic role are typically requested to be 5ft 11in so that they appear uniform on-screen. This posed a challenge for the royal brothers as Prince William stands at 6ft 2 and Harry is similar at 6ft 1.
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