The Princess of Wales appeared to give her husband Prince William a gentle tap on the behind while walking the BAFTA red carpet last night (19 February), with fans reacting to the rare public display of affection.
Kate, wearing a reworked one-shoulder Alexander McQueen dress, and William, in a double-breasted black velvet suit jacket, walked across the red carpet as she leant across and appeared to give him a soft tap on his behind as the couple engaged in conversation.
Many royal fans discussed the moment on social media, with one writing: “Oh yes! I saw it!!!”
“You can see the chemistry between these two,” added another.
One person wrote: “Screaming..she is shameless with her man,” with a row of laughter emojis.
“I love their love!” wrote another.
Others, however, suggested that Kate was actually reaching for William’s hand.
“She went for his hand and he moved it quick so she tapped him. Did anyone else see that?” wrote another.
“If you ask me it looked more like she reached for his hand and he moved his hand so she accidentally touched his behind,” one user suggested.
William has been the president of BAFTA since 2010 and Kate first attended the event with her husband in 2017.
The couple’s appearance comes after they were criticised for rarely showing affection for each other in public, in comparison to Harry and Meghan, who are regularly seen hand in hand.
In a photograph of the two couples at Windsor, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September, William and Kate are seen walking beside each other, while the Duke and Duchess of Sussex hold hands.
In the Sussex’s Netflix documentary, released in December, Meghan also claimed that Kate struggled to relax around her.
“Even when Will and Kate came over and I was meeting her for the first time I remember I was in ripped jeans, I was barefoot,” she told the camera in Harry & Meghan.
Continuing, she explained how William and Kate kept up formal appearances when in the public eye.
Meghan said: “There is a forward-facing way of being and then you close the door and you relax now. But that formality carries over on both sides. And that was surprising to me.”
