The past 12 months has seen both Prince William and Kate cement their roles as Prince and Princess of Wales – and according to a body language expert, it has seen them ditch one specific gesture

The Prince and Princess of Wales have ditched a specific secret trick after undergoing a huge royal change, according to an expert.

Both William and Kate have stepped up their duties in recent years, not least since they were both granted the titles of Prince and Princess of Wales in the days after the late Queen’s death in September 2022.

With this new title, many have remarked on Kate’s growing confidence at royal engagements compared to how she appeared at events when she first married into the Royal Family and became the Duchess of Cambridge. And now, body language expert Darren Stanton believes both she and William have stopped one particular move, which they used to carry out to gain comfort from each other.

Many have remarked on Kate’s growing confidence ( 
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He explained: “Kate’s confidence has grown dramatically in recent years. When Kate was first introduced as a public figure, we would see her play with her hair a lot and look to William for support during joint interviews or events. We would see this from William too, as they both wanted reassurance from each other. There’s a sense they weren’t very confident early on and looking into each other’s eyes was their way of checking in with each other. They both wanted to feel at ease.”

Now, Darren believes when Kate is out and about, she rarely shows any signs of nerves and hardly ever needs to look to William for reassurance. Speaking on behalf of Betfair Casino, he said: “We get a sense she’s happy to be there and wants to prove she’s here to get on with her job. She has an inner strength and is very motivated to do the best she can.

“This is shown through holding her head high, being active in conversations and engaging in strong eye contact with people she’s never met before. Kate didn’t have this confidence previously, and the confidence she has is quite subtle.

“It’s not too overwhelming, and it’s clear her role comes naturally to her. Kate always has strong eye contact with anyone she’s communicating with and never comes across as slouched. She rarely crosses her arms either – and that is normally a giveaway of someone feeling out of place with a lack of confidence.

Kate’s voice tone and pitch are important too. In early interviews of Kate, her voice is quite low in volume and tone. Her voice is now a lot louder and higher in pitch, which suggests quite a change in her confidence. It’s a completely different Kate from before.

“Kate’s walking is a lot more confident, too. She doesn’t look down at all – she looks straight ahead with her shoulders back. It shows she isn’t intimidated by others and is in a good place with herself.”