Duchess Kate and Prince William resemble movie stars at Top Gun: Maverick premiere – best photos

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have arrived at the dazzling charity premiere of the new Top Gun: Maverick.

READ: Host a Jubilee party like Prince William and Kate Middleton

William and Kate arrived to an electric atmosphere in Leicester Square, where hundreds of fans had been waiting for hours to see the stars of Tom Cruise's long-awaited blockbuster arrive.

The premiere, a Royal Film Performance, is taking place in aid of the The Film and TV Charity, which supports people working behind the scenes in the UK's screen industry.

WATCH: Prince William and Kate Middleton resemble movie stars as they greet crowds

Although William looked dashing in his McQueen suit, it was his shoes from C&J that grabbed attention, as they were emblazoned with an F-15 fighter jet, like those used in the movie.

Meanwhile, Kate wore a glamorous Roland Mouret dress with a bardot neckline - a favourite of sister-in-law Meghan Markle. The dress was a black column style with a white band across the top that showed off her collarbones. She added Robinson Pelham's Tsar Star diamond earrings in 14ct white gold.

Fresh from his appearance at the Platinum Jubilee Celebration at Windsor, having won an honorary Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival the previous day, 59-year-old Cruise and legendary producer Jerry Bruckheimer introduced the royal couple to the film's stars, who were lined up against the backdrop of a real P51 fighter plane, like the one Cruise pilots in the film.

Keep clicking for more photos...

They included Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Greg Tarzan Davies, Glen Powell, Jay Ellis, Danny Ramirez and Lewis Pullman.

William and Kate were welcomed to the premiere by Lord Lieutenant Sir Kenneth Olisa, Cameron Saunders, Acting Chair of The Film and TV Charity and Alex Pumfrey, the organisation's CEO.

Inside the lobby they met Maverick's director Joseph Kosinski, screenwriter and producer Christopher Macquarrie, producer David Ellison and Lorne Balfe, who produced the film’s score.

Also in the line up were Brian Robins, President and CEO of Paramount Pictures & Nickleodeon, Mark Viane, President, international Theatrical Distribution, John Fletcher, Managing Director, Paramount and Miles Quarles, Cinema Manager, Odeon Luxe, Leicester Square

Some 36 years since the original Top Gun movie was released in 1986, the sequel sees Cruise reprise the role of US naval aviator Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, returning to the Top Gun academy to train fighter pilots.

They include Bradley Bradshaw – played by Miles Teller – who is the son of Maverick’s tragic friend and radar officer Nick "Goose" Bradshaw, who was killed when a training exercise went wrong.

The premiere was the first Royal Film Performance since 2019, when the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall attended a screening of the First World War drama 1917.

The Royal Film Performance began as the Royal Command Film Performance, taking place for the first time at the Empire Cinema in Leicester Square in 1946.

The film, A Matter Of Life And Death, starring David Niven, was watched by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, and Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret.

Top Gun: Maverick opens in the UK and Ireland on May 27.

Poppy Saunders, 11, daughter of The Film and TV Charity’s acting chairman Cameron Saunders, presented the Duchess with a posy. She said: "I was pretty nervous, but it was really exciting."

Alfie Everett-Fletcher, nine, whose father John Fletcher is managing director of Paramount UK, handed a programme to the Duke, who leaned down to chat to him, saying: "This is very exciting."

Speaking afterwards, Alfie said: "He (William) asked me what I liked about the last film and if I liked planes and jets and motorbikes. He said he was a big fan of the film and cars and stuff."