Prince William totally just made a rare fashion statement

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Last night the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended the royal premiere of Top Gun: Maverick in London, for which Tom Cruise and Jennifer Connelly flying straight over from the Cannes film festival to present their latest movie.

And while Kate Middleton's daring dress made all the headlines, Prince William's bold fashion choices didn't go unnoticed either.

The royal looked smart in a black tuxedo with matching bow tie and a white shirt, but in a rare move for him, he made a statement with his shoes.

He wore black velvet slippers, embroidered with fighter jets, a cute nod to Tom Cruise's new film, which follows the lives of students at the United States Navy's elite fighter weapons school.

Each shoe featured an F-18 Super Hornet in honour of the aircraft famously featured in Top Gun.

The Duke would of course have a special interest in the movie, since he himself has a rich history with flying planes.

He was a member of the Royal Air Force and also served as an air ambulance helicopter pilot before he retired from that career a few years ago, to focus on other royal commitments and family life with Kate and his three children, George, Charlotte and Louis.

During the premiere, he and Kate mingled with Jennifer Connelly and Tom Cruise, with whom he no doubt chatted about all things flying, since Tom is himself a pilot.

He is said to have flown Jennifer in his own plane while training her for the movie.

Penny Goldstone

Penny Goldstone is the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire, covering everything from catwalk trends to royal fashion and the latest high street and Instagram must-haves.

Penny grew up in France and studied languages and law at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris before moving to the UK for her MA in multimedia journalism at Bournemouth University. She moved to the UK permanently and has never looked back (though she does go back regularly to stock up on cheese and wine).

Although she's always loved fashion - she used to create scrapbooks of her favourite trends and looks, including Sienna Miller and Kate Moss' boho phase - her first job was at MoneySavingExpert.com, sourcing the best deals for everything from restaurants to designer sales.

However she quit after two years to follow her true passion, fashion journalism, and after many years of internships and freelance stints at magazines including Red, Cosmopolitan, Stylist and Good Housekeeping, landed her dream job as the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK.

Her favourite part of the job is discovering new brands and meeting designers, and travelling the world to attend events and fashion shows. Seeing her first Chanel runway IRL at Paris Fashion Week was a true pinch-me moment.