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British RoyalsPrince & Princess of Wales

“William says hi” Kate Beckinsale jokes after being confused for Duchess of Cambridge

What to do if your name is Kate, you’re also very famous, and a leading news website has confused you with the Duchess of Cambridge?

If you’re British actress Kate Beckinsale, you go along with it.

Beckinsale took a screenshot of a USA Today article about her recent hospitalisation for a ruptured ovarian cyst that featured her name but not her likeness with the caption, “William says hi.”

The photo accompanying the article featured the future queen consort Kate on a recent visit to Family Action.

The Underworld and Pearl Harbor star noted that she was “So moved and touched by all the kind messages I have received over the last few days and staggered by the similar and worse stories of my #cysters [sisters] have been sending me. I am feeling much better now and I hope all the other girls going through it are too. Back to resume my royal duties.”

The post, shared on 30 January, has amassed over 130,000 likes and over 5,000 comments, some of whom are from other celebrities playing along with the joke.

Modern Family star Sarah Hyland asked Beckinsale to “Tell Meghan I say hi!”

Once USA Today realised the error, their representatives also commented on Beckinsale’s photo.

“First and foremost, we’re glad to hear you’re feeling much better. We apologise for the image associated with this story.

“It appears our system pulled the first image in the photo gallery at the bottom of the story, instead of the image of you we put in the story.

“It just so happens the lead photo in the galley is of Duchess Kate. We regret the error and are working to make sure this does not happen again.”

Beckinsale was released from the hospital on Thursday.

About author

Jess Ilse is the Assistant Editor at Royal Central. She specialises in the British, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish Royal Families and has been following royalty since Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee. Jess has provided commentary for media outlets in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Jess works in communications and her debut novel THE MAJESTIC SISTERS will publish in Fall 2024.