Julie Chen: When I Met William and Kate

Julie Chen

Matt Baron/BEImages

No stranger to meeting people from all walks of life in her role as host of both The Talk and Big Brother, Julie Chen experienced the ultimate meet-and-greet July 9: with William and Kate.

The occasion, which Chen attended with husband Les Moonves, president and CEO of the CBS Corporation, was the BAFTA Brits to Watch dinner.

Here is Chen's take on the event, exclusively for PEOPLE.com:

My husband and I were literally at the table right behind them, and whenever someone would go on stage to say, "And tonight, with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge," I had a perfect view of Kate turning to look at William. She would smile and give a little giggle and they would look into each other's eyes as if to say, "Hey, that's us!" ? like, it was exciting for both of them to be referred to as that. That was very sweet.

Now Catherine, I know a lot of the British tabloids say she is too skinny; in my opinion, she is not. She looked great. She looked elegant and classy and very fairy-tale-like, but not unapproachable. The dress was that kind of dove gray that was elegant without being "look at me!" Color-wise, people usually want to make a statement, but she knew all eyes were going to be on her anyway. With Kate, the word that just kept coming to my head to describe her was demure. Appropriate. I think she defines the new monarchy in that you feel like she's young and hip, yet regal.

Now William, he was such a gentleman! He excused himself from talking to his dinner partner, got up and then, after being introduced to us, we were talking for 10 minutes. About [Rupert Murdoch's] the News of the World being shut down, he was like, "Oh yes, you may or may not know, but this all started with a frivolous incident with me in 2003 when they hacked into my phone." He was so open! We were like, "What?" We talked about polo and how he was enjoying his stay in Los Angeles.

Then the next course was going to be served, and I was afraid I missed my chance to talk to Kate. But then, when they were getting ready to leave, she walked right past my table and I quickly said, "Goodnight!" She just looked up and said, "Goodnight," quietly, so that I barely heard a whisper of her voice but I knew what she said. It was kind, friendly and soft ... NOT loud or brash. Like everything I saw her do that night, she was appropriate yet lovely.

During the evening, I noticed they didn't do much touching of one another but they didn't need to because it was all in their smiles and glances. They were at ease with one another, showing their love. It wasn't an overt public display of affection; you just saw it in the energy between them and the way they looked at each other.

They look picture perfect and they kind of are once you get to meet them! She is a reflection of him, and he was such a good guy, mature and gentlemanly yet friendly and open, a guy you'd want to go out and have a drink with. In fact, I felt like if I could have talked to William a little longer, I could have told him a funny dirty joke and he would have laughed! I thought, this guy has impressed me so much, I know he thought long and hard about his decision to ask her to marry him and in the end, he made the right choice. I feel like he got it right not just for the monarchy but for his soul.

Source: http://feeds.people.com/~r/people/headlines/~3/kqXXvQWImiQ/0,,20395222_20509797,00.html

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