Tom Cruise: The man who raises the standard of gallantry in Hollywood

Prince William looking on as Tom Cruise grabs Princess Catherine’s hand to walk up the stairs after they arrive at the ‘Top Gun Maverick’ premiere.

Photo credit: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

The Modern-Day Knight

There is something undeniably Arthurian about Tom Cruise. Yes, he is a Hollywood powerhouse, but more than that, he understands the art of reverence. When he gently offered his hand to Princess Catherine to help her up the stairs, the gesture was not performative. It was not for the cameras. It was an instinctive act of deference and dignity - a moment that felt borrowed from the court of Camelot.

Photo credit: Gtres

To escort a future queen and do so with grace, while dressed in a midnight tuxedo tailored to military precision, is no small feat. But Cruise does not merely wear tuxedos. Like the knights of old who bore chainmail as second skin, he embodies his attire. The cut, the fit, the posture - it all converges into a display of what I call earned elegance.

A Rare and Refined Gesture

But let us not confine this discussion to a singular red carpet moment. Just recently, Tom Cruise’s chivalric instincts resurfaced at a different venue, with a different lady: Indian digital content creator Niharika NM. During their encounter at Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning premiere in London - Cruise stood when she approached, offered his hand, listened with full presence, and made her feel seen.

Photo credit: niharika_nm

This was not royalty. This was not an international diplomat. This was a young creator, entering the global stage. And Cruise, ever the knight, treated her as such. That is the true test of nobility - not how you treat queens, but how you honour everyone else.

The age of chivalry, as Burke lamented, may have passed. But in Cruise, we are reminded that its virtues still live. To rise when a lady enters the room. To walk slightly behind her when descending stairs. To listen. To pause. These are not antiquated gestures - they are marks of mastery in the social dance that is manhood.

Elegance Beyond the Fabric

Dear readers, you know I have spent years studying the aesthetics of aristocracy - not just in the tailoring of Savile Row or the bloodlines of European dynasty, but in the quiet codes that governed dynasties: restraint, honour, composure. Tom Cruise, though not born of noble blood, carries himself as if he were of that lineage - not because he imitates, but because he understands.

There is a kind of regality that can’t be taught in acting school or summoned through money. It is earned in how a man speaks when the spotlight dims. In how he stands when no one is watching. Tom Cruise, for all his fame, seems governed not by ego, but by an internal code. That, to me, is dynastic style. Not flamboyant wealth, but focused self-command.

Photo credit: Gtres

Lessons for the Modern Gentleman

So, what can Tom Cruise teach his fans - and all of us who still believe in gallantry?

1. A Gentleman Anticipates Needs

He does not wait to be asked. He sees the staircase and offers a hand. He sees discomfort and makes room. This is not control - it is consideration.

2. Elegance Is a Language of Restraint

Tom Cruise dresses well, yes, but he does not flaunt. No oversized watches, no garish pins. His elegance whispers - never shouts. This is the style of the old dynasties, who never needed to prove because their very presence was proof.

3. Chivalry is Genderless but Rooted in Service

To serve is not to diminish oneself. It is to elevate the moment, the company, the occasion. In both encounters - with Princess Catherine and with Niharika NM - Cruise served the moment. That’s nobility.

4. Charm is a Weapon Best Sheathed

Cruise can smile, certainly. But his most disarming quality is his focus. He looks at you like there is no one else. It is a power most men never learn to wield because they never learn to silence themselves.

5. Chivalry is a Daily Discipline

It’s in how you greet your doorman. How you stand at the dinner table. How you speak about those not present. It is invisible armor - a daily devotion to dignity.

From Arthur to Hollywood

My passionate subject, as you know, has always been the subtle codes of courtly conduct. I have read Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur beside a roaring fire in Wiltshire and have spent evenings tracing the lineage of Gawain and Galahad. But in our world of TikTok trends and Netflix noise, it’s increasingly hard to speak of such ideals without sounding quaint or out-of-touch.

And yet, here comes Cruise, cutting through the chaos like a blade honed in an earlier age. He doesn’t preach chivalry. He practices it. And that, my dear readers, is how codes are passed - not through lectures, but through example.

Final Reflections from My Drawing Room

As I sit in my wood-paneled study, soft jazz curling from the gramophone, I cannot help but smile. Somewhere between the Arthurian halls of Camelot and the klieg lights of London, chivalry found a carrier. Not a king, nor a knight - but an actor, who remembered how to behave like both.

Tom Cruise may not wear a crown. But in a world that forgets how to serve, he remains sovereign.

Let us not merely admire. Let us emulate.

Yours in white gloves and whispered honour,
Harrison Montgomery Blackwell III