Kate Middleton Is Known To Tap Prince William’s Bottom ‘When She Thinks No One’s Looking,’ Royal Expert Claims

Prince William and Kate Middleton have been more comfortable with each other in public, according to royal experts.

Katie Nicholl, a journalist, author, Vanity Fair royal editor and royal biographer, joined Kinsey Schofield for the new episode of the latter's "Kinsey Schofield Unfiltered" YouTube series. Schofield is also the host of the royal podcast "To Di For Daily" and the author of "R is for Revenge Dress: A Princess Diana-Inspired Alphabet Book for Grown-Ups."

The pair talked about the sweet moments between the Prince and Princess of Wales after their brief PDA on the balcony during Trooping the Colour two weeks ago and the viral video of Middleton playfully "smacking" her husband's behind when they walked on the 2023 BAFTAs red carpet. Nicholl claimed that Middleton has a habit of tapping her husband's behind.

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"I remember being in baton once with them and seeing her do exactly the same, it was more a little tap on the buttock, right. But it's, you know, it's just that moment of intimacy and familiarity that, you know, you do forget. I mean, she's walking down the red carpet here, so who knows how deliberate it was. I know that she finds William irresistible when he's in a tux, so maybe that was what was behind that moment of intimacy," Nicholl explained. "But she has been known to pat him on the bottom sometimes when she thinks no one's looking."

"The problem is, there is always someone looking and as I said, I was in baton with them once, they were walking and they'd done their photo shoot with us and as they were leaving to go off and going to walk to some monastery, I think she thought everyone had put their cameras down and they hadn't and there was that little tap on his bottom."

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The future king and queen were photographed "looking lovingly at each other" earlier this month. Schofield said the Prince and Princess of Wales' affection wasn't something one would expect from the royal family as they rarely show public displays of affection, unlike Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who have been tactile since they started dating.

"They were quite careful not to do any public displays of affection. They wouldn't really hold hands. They were quite careful," Nicholl said of Prince William and Middleton. "And now, I think they're just so comfortable with each other and clearly very much in love that those PDAs, as you say, are something we've gotten more used to. But it was a beautiful moment on that balcony."

Nicholl said that it probably took a lot of effort for Middleton to join the royal family for Trooping the Colour, which served as her first outing since announcing her cancer diagnosis in March. So, her husband must have been "incredibly proud" of her.

An unnamed source told Life & Style that Middleton was "worried she would look tired and too thin" at the Trooping the Colour parade. But the people's warm response to her return after her months-long absence reportedly "boosted her confidence," and Prince William "was very proud of her."