In the days leading up to Prince William and Kate Middleton’s appearance at the Cleveland Cavaliers' game against the Brooklyn Nets, LeBron James said he was “honored” to play in front of them. However, he did more than just that after Monday's game.

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After his team beat the Nets 110-88, James broke royal protocol by putting his arm around the Duchess of Cambridge as they smiled for the pictures. However, Middleton didn’t seem at all concerned with being touched. Instead, she smiled between James and her husband, and even laughed when the couple was presented with a little jersey for Prince George.

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"From medieval times, monarchs were divinely appointed to rule by God, so they were kind of seen as gods, so they demanded to be treated as gods," Dr. Kate Williams, a historian at London's Royal Holloway University, told BBC in 2011. "They are treated as people set apart from the rest of us, so primarily what it is creating is distance and grandeur."

Dr. Williams added, "You don't kiss them, you don't touch them, you bow - over and over again."

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Kate Middleton, LeBron James