Kevin Costner Shares Sweet Thing Prince William Once Told Him: ‘My Mom Kind of Fancied You’ (Exclusive)

When Kevin Costner heard that Prince William wanted to meet up with him for a private meeting some years back, the Oscar winner didn’t hesitate.

“I happened to be in England, and I got this message that the prince would love to talk, and I said, ‘What?’… and then I went, ‘Okay,’ ” Costner recalls.

The star, 69, who’s No. 1 on the list in PEOPLE’s annual 100 Reasons to Love America issue, says in this week’s cover story he has nothing but fond memories about the encounter.

“We met in this room, and it was just us,” he says. “He walked up, and we shook hands… The first line out of his mouth was, ‘You know, my mom kind of fancied you.’ “

Costner, who demurs on sharing what they spoke about during the rest of the private chat, says the experience with the Prince of Wales was “very sweet.” Calling William “quite a young man,” the actor was left with “such fond memories of who he was, how I was approached and what we talked about.”

Years earlier, Costner had been in contact with Princess Diana about collaborating on a sequel to The Bodyguard, his 1992 hit co-starring Whitney Houston. “There was a moment that that was really flying down the tracks, very quietly, because it’s how I operate,” says Costner, who had been introduced to Princess Diana by Sarah Ferguson.

“It was so sweet. Sarah was the one that set this up. Sarah was very cool… when she could have been going, ‘Well, I’m a princess too. What about me?’ She didn’t do that at all. Diana and I began to talk.”

“I’ve had an incredibly unusual, and for the most part, beautiful life,” says Costner, who looks back on his life and iconic 40-year Hollywood career in this week’s cover story. The star of classics like The Untouchables, Dances with Wolves and Field of Dreams is also looking forward: he’s got back-to-back movies opening this summer — two ambitious installments of his Western epic Horizon: An American Saga, for which he’s cowriter, director and star.