Why Jessie J Broke Royal Protocol To Hug Kate Middleton

Jessie J shared a meaningful moment with Kate Middleton earlier this month, as the two embraced at the Royal Variety Performance towards the end of last month.

The encounter was particularly poignant, as both the singer and Princess of Wales are recent cancer survivors.

During an interview with Good Morning America on Friday, Jessie opened up about the two’s meeting.

“Did Princess Kate say anything to you, mom to mom?” asked foreign correspondent Maggie Rulli, to which the Bang Bang singer responded: “She just said, ‘Thank you, I know you’ve gone through a tough time’.

“I said, ‘I know you have too.’ I just said, ‘I want to acknowledge that, mum to mum, cancer survivor to cancer survivor. I see you, and I feel you. Can I give you a hug?’ She said, ‘Of course you can.’”

Typically, it’s viewed as a breach of royal protocol to touch a royal. The chart-topping star added that she was just “grateful she received it in the way it was meant”.

Jessie previously opened up about her sweet moment with the royal, saying that though she “was briefed not to” hug the Princess of Wales, she “just saw a mom that has also gone through cancer publicly, and I just wanted to give her a hug”.

“It was as simple as that I didn’t see her as the Princess of Wales. I mean obviously I did ― and I was respectful,” the singer told This Morning last week. “I know the days that she has maybe gone through, and I just wanted to give her a hug — mom to mom, human to human.”

Kate announced publicly in March 2024 that she had been diagnosed with cancer, though she has never clarified the type of cancer she has.

In September 2024, the royal announced that she’d completed chemotherapy. Just a few months later, she said that her cancer was in remission.

Jessie shared in June that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and was “going to disappear for a bit” to have surgery.