Cinematic footage showed an affectionate Prince and Princess of Wales cuddling and kissing – and experts have said it’s a deviation from them using refraining from PDAs.
Royal expert Emily Andrews wrote in Woman: “Her devotion to William — and his to her — was plain to see as they hugged and kissed in front of the cameras.
“When I’ve followed them around the country, and indeed the world on foreign tours, I’ve witnessed their affection and love for each other in private.
“Behind the TV cameras, they would hold hands and put arms around each other — even finish each other’s sentences.
“But never have I seen these sorts of PDAs played out in front of the cameras.”
In the heart-warming clip, the royal, 42, said she was “so grateful” for the support she has received after she first announced she had an unspecified cancer in March.
Kate was seen playing with George, Charlotte and Louis, and embracing her husband as they played in the woods and beach near their Norfolk home, Anmer Hall.
Body language expert Judi James told Fabulous that William and Kate have “kept their PDAs on very tight rations for over ten years now” and tend to “eke out hints of their feelings rather than any definitive signalling.”
However, the video signals a change in their usual playbook.
Judi explained: “The video is like an emotional advent calendar, with each scene like a new door being opened to show some powerfully candid-looking and illuminating PDAs.
“This video is almost breath-taking in its intimacy in terms of revealing signals of love and enduring sexual attraction that is shown to be totally mutual in strength, though.
“There has been a steady evolution of small, subtle sightings of affection, but William’s natural desire to avoid inviting all the soap-opera attention his mother suffered has tended to dominate their body language rituals.”
The body language expert said at the start of their marriage, “there was no hugging or hand-holding to put any romantic meat on the bones.”
She added: “Their small glances would often show some facial feature softening that defines ‘The look of love’ but it was a long time before they felt confident and relaxed enough to add in the odd touch on the back or the leg and even longer before we were treated to the odd sexual signal like a cheeky bum-pat.”
Judi pointed out William and Kate’s romantic kiss on the beach as showing “sexual attraction.”
The body language pro wrote: “At one point William leans across to kiss her and in another, when they are playing on the sand dunes, he lies on top of her and seems to be kissing her on the neck in a very sensual-looking moment.”
While we may have seen limited affection between Kate and William previously, Judi said it could be an important tool in her chemotherapy update video.
She explained: “As Kate tells us, her illness has made her reassess what is important in life. “It looks and feels like a statement both Kate and William wanted to make rather than a new step in their PDA journey.”
Etiquette expert Myka Meier, founder of Beaumont Etiquette, clarified that there are no official rules or protocol on royals holding hands or kissing in public.
She advised: “Senior members of the royal family would likely not be told how to interact or when they can or cannot show PDA and would be trusted to use their better judgement as to when it’s appropriate.
“The royals often adjust PDA to mirror the formality of the event they are attending.
“At a sombre or more formal event, we are less likely to see PDA than at a casual event where it would be deemed more fitting.”
