Prince William’s ‘loving gesture’ for Kate Middleton shows pitch-perfect power balance
A body language expert has called a sweet moment between Prince William and Princess Kate “thoughtful and loving” but also explained it is more “complicated” than that.
A body language expert has revealed there is more to a “thoughtful and loving gesture” that Prince William made towards Kate than first meets the eye.
The sweet moment between the Royal couple went viral last year and was taken in the moment following Kate’s speech for the Royal Foundation on World Mental Health Day, where they discussed mental health and young people in the social media age. The video shows Prince William gently pulling out her seat for her as she leaves the stage to return to sit beside him.
Although subtle, eagle eye fans were touched by the moment and it gained hundred and thousands of views on TikTok, with many praising the Prince for showing such respect and love to his wife. Users flocked to the comment to share their thoughts on the moment. One person said: “His mother brought him up with impeccable manners,” while another said, “These two are very connected to each other. I love how he puts his hand on her waist in crowds like ‘I’m here, I’ve got you!'”
A body language expert called the subtle moment between the pair “thoughtful and loving” (
Image:
Darren Quinton/Birmingham Live)
But now, Body language expert Judi James has revealed that this small moment between the pair could really signify something much deeper and “more complicated” in their relationship, calling it “pitch-perfect”. She said: “This very thoughtful and loving gesture by William is actually more complicated in terms of ‘getting it right’ than it looks.”
She continued: “This is Kate’s speech so therefore Kate’s moment of higher importance, higher status and spotlight. If William had over-fussed or gone ‘full gentleman’, standing to pull her seat back and pushing it in under her legs as she sat down it would have undermined the moment of equality. His role his is being part of the audience, clapping his wife proudly after her speech.
The Princess is reportedly a nervous public speaker and so this small gesture by William would have meant a lot (
Image:
Darren Quinton/Birmingham Live)
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“So this quiet gesture of thoughtfulness shows his ability to be pitch-perfect in terms of power balance. He registers empathy and synchronicity with his wife by automatically spotting the fact that she will find it easier to sit if the chair is subtly pulled out but he doesn’t make a big show of his gesture to make himself look good.”
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The expert suggested that even more profound is William’s use of this slight gesture to communicate with Kate without saying a word. James said: “The other message here though is how he also seems to be using it as a subtle ‘well done’ to Kate.”
Viewers of the video online praised William’s “impeccable manners” and commented on the pair’s connection (
Image:
Darren Quinton/Birmingham Live)
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She added: “When someone finishes a speech, especially someone as nervous about public speaking as Kate, a pat on the back and some verbal praise is usually welcome. But if William had done it here it could have emphasised her nervousness and even come across as patronising. So the small act of thoughtfulness does the job for him as a show of pride and approval. Apart from that it’s so good to see a guy who must have had chairs automatically pulled out for him most of his life perform this loving act himself for a wife he is clearly proud of.”