Prince William and Harry have lightsaber battle on Star Wars set

British royals Prince William and Prince Harry had a lightsaber duel during their tour of the Star Wars set on Tuesday (19Apr16).

The royals paid a visit to the set of Star Wars: Episode VIII in Pinewood Studios near London and were given a tour around the prop and costume departments by actress Daisy Ridley, who plays Rey in the new franchise.

Footage from the workshops show William holding a cast of Daisy's head, stroking a prop head and watching how a specialist can make an unspecified creature's face move.

Images on the Kensington Palace Twitter page show the royals clashing lightsabers in the prop department, with Harry taking on the updated crossguard version, which was used by villain Kylo Ren in The Force Awakens.

After checking out Rey's original scavenger outfit in the costume department, the brothers then move onto a green screen set, which features a jet from The Resistance and appears to the basis of an aircraft hangar. Pictures show Chewbacca, who is played by Peter Mayhew, enveloping Harry into a big hug, while William bends down and greets droid BB-8.

The captions read, "Prince Harry has made a new friend... and so has The Duke!"

Mark Hamill, who plays Luke Skywalker, John Boyega, and director Rian Johnson, who has taken over from The Force Awakens' J.J. Abrams, also met the royals on the green screen set.

The Duke of Cambridge, the President of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), made the visit to celebrate the British talents behind-the-scenes.

A tweet from Kensington Palace reads: "William and Prince Harry are travelling to a galaxy far, far way... The Duke & Prince Harry's visit @PinewoodStudios recognises the wealth of British creative talent involved in producing the @starwars films."

Filming on the movie began in February (16). It is set for release in December, 2017.