Prince William “Breaks His Own Rules” to Get Closer to Princess Kate and “Intensify the Romance”

Prince William puts a hand on the small of Kate Middleton's back at a gala

(Image credit: Getty)

published 5 July 2023

PDA is generally not the norm when it comes to the royal family—which is why Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stood out so much when they employed it with aplomb. If you’ve been paying attention lately, you’ve noticed that Prince William and Princess Kate have been packing on some PDA of their own lately—much more than in the earlier years of their marriage and time in the public eye together.

“William and Kate have been keeping royal fans, and each other, supplied with a stream of romantic gestures, tie-signs, and touch rituals since they first married, but their technique seems to be driven by inclusion,” body language expert Judi James told The Daily Express. “We can see they are a romantic and in love couple but they never allow their body language rituals together to exclude the viewer.”

Prince William and Kate Middleton kiss at a polo match

That said, James followed up, their romantic gestures aren’t overzealous or performative: “Subtlety is vital for their public role and as royals, they provide signals that they are a strong couple—which is important after the dysfunctional relationship dramas of the previous generation of royals—but that they maintain an even, steady emotional trend rather than a soap opera of passionate highs and lows,” she said.

Through the “key trait” of proximity, James said William and Kate give the public a “peek at the private nature of their romance.”

Prince William puts an arm around Kate Middleton

“When they enter one another’s personal space on tours and visits, William in particular seems to be unable to avoid breaking what often seems to be his own rules of non-tactile public behavior and intensifying the romance of the moment via gestures like this little nuzzling kiss of her hair,” James said. “The gestures are often more for him than her, as she might not even be aware at that moment, but this is a trait many couples will share. Proximity will suddenly bombard the senses, meaning William will smell Kate’s perfume or her hair as he suddenly moves into her close orbit, making him motivated by the desire to get even closer and involve touch, too.”

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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.