Tom Cruise may have thought his increasingly close relationship with Britain’s future king and queen was simply another glamorous Hollywood friendship, but after a week in which the actor has talked repeatedly about Prince William, Catherine, Princess of Wales, and even revealed private details about his conversation with Taylor Swift, a very different concern is reportedly beginning to emerge behind palace walls, with King Charles III’ role at the center of a sensitive question involving Scientology and the Royal Family.

The timing is difficult to ignore. Cruise, 64, has spent much of the past week publicly praising William and Catherine after their appearance at the London premiere of Digger, where cameras captured him taking Catherine’s hand and helping her down the steps before the royal couple joined him for the event.

But Cruise did not simply enjoy the evening and move on. He kept talking and talking and talking some more, sharing every tiny detail about his private moments with Princess Catherine and Prince William.

Appearing on The Graham Norton Show, Cruise described William and Catherine as “amazing” and “very charismatic,” and then, in another interview following the premiere, he went even further, saying, “I have so much respect for them. They’re amazing people and how dedicated they are to their country,” before adding that they are “beautiful people and fun” and “so charismatic and so elegant.”

And then his attention turned specifically to Catherine. “She’s very funny. She’s got a great sense of humour. Obviously very intelligent and fun,” Cruise said, before admiring the gown she wore for the premiere and adding the eyebrow-raising compliment, “William did well.”

On its own, none of that is scandalous. Cruise has known the royal couple for years, and the Digger premiere was a Royal Film Performance rather than simply a private Hollywood gathering, making his appearance with William and Catherine entirely understandable.

But the sheer amount of talking has become part of the story. Only days earlier, Cruise had also appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and revealed exactly what he and Taylor Swift had been discussing when cameras caught them together at the Kansas City Chiefs game.

“She was schooling me on football,” Cruise said, explaining that Swift “knows her stuff,” before calling her “a genius” and revealing that they also discussed “music and movies.” He then praised her as a “brilliant writer,” “brilliant musician” and “very skilled” director.

In other words, Cruise has suddenly become unusually generous with details about conversations and relationships involving some of the most closely watched people on the planet.

And that is where the royal story takes its more serious turn. According to Rob Shuter’s Naughty But Nice reporting, an unnamed palace source says the concern surrounding Cruise’s growing access to William and Catherine is not romantic, despite the attention generated by the hand-holding moment at the premiere.

“Nobody is worried Catherine is going to run off with Tom Cruise,” the source reportedly said. “They’re worried about Scientology getting anywhere near the future king and queen. That is a completely different matter.”

That distinction changes the entire story. The concern being reported is about boundaries, access, and the extraordinary constitutional position William and Catherine occupy, because King Charles is Supreme Governor of the Church of England and William will eventually inherit that role when he becomes king.

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The same royal source put the concern even more bluntly, telling the Yahoo reporter: “This isn’t about Catherine joining anything. It’s about protecting boundaries. William will one day be king, with a formal role in the Church of England. Tom isn’t simply another Hollywood friend. Some people think this relationship is getting too close for comfort.”

It is believed that some people in the palace can be convinced to step in to rein Cruise. Thus far, King Charles has not personally confronted the actor or issued a formal warning.

The bigger issue is that Cruise appears to have enjoyed an extraordinary level of public warmth toward William and Catherine, while simultaneously becoming more outspoken about their private interactions and about other celebrities.

For a Hollywood star accustomed to enormous freedom, that may not seem unusual.

For a future king and queen whose every relationship can carry institutional significance, however, the Palace may see things very differently.

Cruise may have been talking because he was delighted by the royal encounter. He may have been talking because he genuinely admires William and Catherine.

And he may have thought revealing what Taylor Swift taught him about football was simply entertaining television.

But if the latest palace-source claims are accurate, King Charles’ message may ultimately be much simpler: friendship is one thing, access is another, and when the future king and queen are involved, the boundaries matter.