One Direction may be pop royalty but the fab five came face-to-face with real royalty last night (Thursday, November 13).

Harry, Niall, Zayn, Liam and Louis met the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at the London Palladium, where they took to the stage alongside side the likes of McBusted, Demi Lovato, Ellie Goulding and Ed Sheeran at this year's Royal Variety Performance.

Snaps of their encounter with Prince William and pregnant wife Kate Middleton have since emerged, with Hazza seen shaking hands with the Royal couple as his bandmates look on, while in another pic, the group engage in a conversation with Wills. Just don't ask us what's going on with Zayn's hair!

Styles later told PA that he congratulated K-Middy on her second pregnancy, stating: "I said congratulations on the bump. She didn’t look too bumpy."

Liam Payne later admitted that his encounter with the pair was "the most nervous I think I’ve ever been in my life".

[related]Louis Tomlinson went on to voice his concern that he may have made an error when addressing Kate, stating: "I didn’t say ma’am. I said, 'Hi. How are you? I’m Louis'."

Wills later joked that he had been "keeping a close eye" on the Steal My Girl band as they chatted to his wife!

You can catch 1D's performance when the 2014 Royal Variety Performance hits ITV in December.