Kate Middleton playfully pats Prince William’s butt in rare PDA
Even royal couples like to pack on a little PDA.
During a ceremony in Edinburgh, Scotland, celebrating King Charles III’s coronation on Wednesday, Kate Middleton, 41, showed her husband, Prince William, 41, a bit of extra affection as she playfully gave him a pat on the butt.
The moment happened as the two were next to each other at the National Service of Thanksgiving and Dedication at St Giles’ Cathedral, where Charles was presented with the country’s crown jewels, known as the Honors of Scotland, per People.
As the couple stood up during the service, Middleton was seen placing her hand on her husband’s backside, smiling and seemingly whispering something into his ear.
They were dressed to the nines during the ceremony — which was notably smaller than Charles’ earlier one on May 6 at Westminster Abbey — as Middleton wore a royal blue coat dress by Catherine Walker and William a ceremonial robe.
The robe was meant to signify his place in the Order of the Thistle, Scotland’s highest chivalric honor, according to Town & Country. Charles and Queen Camilla were also dressed in ceremonial outfits.
This isn’t the first time in recent months that Middleton has shown her husband extra fondness while at a public event.
While the two attended the 2023 British Academy Film Awards in February, Middleton gave William a cheeky tap on the behind as they walked down the red carpet.
The adorable moment was captured in a video posted to Vogue’s Instagram page at the time, showing the two smiling and walking side by side at the Royal Festival Hall in London.
“Princess Kate gave Prince William a love tap as they arrived to the 2023 #BAFTAs, proving that royals really are just like us — a regular husband and wife that sometimes like to cop a feel,” the outlet’s caption read.
The event marked the couple’s first BAFTA awards since 2020, as they missed the 2021 ceremony due to the passing of Prince Philip, who died just one day before the scheduled event.
In 2022, they were unable to attend because of “diary constraints,” a rep told Variety at the time.
Middleton and Prince William have been together since meeting at St. Andrews University in Scotland, marrying in April 2011.
They share three children: Prince George, 9, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5.
During their first televised interview following their engagement in 2010, Middleton remembered how she felt the first time she met William at college.
“I actually think I went bright red when I met you and sort of scuttled off, feeling very shy,” she admitted.
William proposed to Middleton with a 12-carat diamond and sapphire ring that once belonged to his late mother, Princess Diana, who tragically passed away in a car crash in Paris in 1997.
And, it looks like their love is still going strong — according to former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond, Middleton gives her husband the kind of strong family structure he lacked growing up.
“[Middleton has] given William everything he didn’t have with Charles and Diana,” Bond recently told OK! Magazine UK.
Bond added that Kate has provided William with a “loving, deep partnership, founded on friendship, passion and mutual respect, plus a broader, settled and happy relationship with his in-laws.”
Charles and Diana were married for 15 years, from 1981 to 1996.
