Throughout Prince William and Kate Middleton’s fairytale courtship from 2001 to 2010, the pair often deliberately sought to keep a low profile.
While the couple had previously attended ten of their friends’ weddings, they carefully snuck through the back door in a desperate bid to evade any public attention.
But in October 2010, this routine of privacy suddenly shifted – the young prince, then aged 28, was no longer hiding his university sweetheart from the world.
When the pair attended the wedding of close friends Harry Meade and Rosie Bradford in Gloucestershire, they walked arm-in-arm through the church’s main door and wore beaming smiles in front of a sea of photographers.
Unbeknown to their fellow guests, just a few days earlier William had got down on one knee and asked Kate to marry him against a picturesque Kenyan backdrop.
A royal wedding was on the horizon, but it remained top-secret. Kate’s dazzling ring, the late Princess Diana’s 12-carat oval Ceylon blue sapphire, was being stored in a safe and even the couple’s closest family members were unaware of their joyous news.
Yet for body language expert Judi James, signs of the couple’s nuptial plans were abundantly clear – as William was seen ‘performing a volley of truncated, camouflaging and barrier rituals to avoid advertising the fact that he’s soppily in love’.
Meanwhile, for Kate, appearing at the event with her partner after a litany of secrecy was a great ‘relief’ – perhaps best illustrated by her ‘dimpled smile of authentic delight’.
Ms James explains: ‘Her body language behaviours here suggest high levels of authentic happiness and enjoyment at finally being able to attend a wedding in the normal way, at the side of the man she loves, rather than being smuggled through the back door.’
And while the future Princess’s body language may at times have been shielded as she spoke to fellow guests, the sound of her ‘happy giggles and the reflected smiles from people around her’ clearly indicated a ‘sense of relief and joy’.
As royal biographer Katie Nicholls reveals in her book The Making Of A Royal Romance, the event marked the first time Kate had been seen in 104 days. And while her arrival with William was ‘unusual’, she exuded an impeccably ‘new confidence’.
‘Tanned from their recent holiday and walking side by side they looked content and it didn’t seem to bother Kate that several of William’s ex-girlfriends were in the congregation,’ Ms Nicholl writes.
These former lovers included Rose Farquhar, with whom William had formed romantic relations during the summer after he left Eton, alongside his former lovers Jecca Craig and Olivia Hunt.
But in contrast to his confident partner, an incredibly loved-up William appeared to be visibly struggling not to let the news of their secret engagement slip.
Despite being born into a family that often maintains a visual stance detached from emotion, William’s ‘non-verbal instinct suppression techniques suggest that he is a very bad body language liar,’ according to Ms James.
Describing the couple’s decision to arrive at the event as a public pair as synonymous with a ‘soft launch’ of their upcoming nuptials, Ms James adds that while the prince may have hoped he could be ‘nonchalant’, this ultimately failed.
She explains: ‘There are some clumsy attempts to literally hide his smile of excitement and delight with his hand or there are moments when he is just gazing into Kate’s eyes and allowing everyone a glimpse of his facial feature-softening display that is known as the look of love.’
The significance of Kate and William’s joint arrival was also acknowledged by the fellow guests, as Ms Nicholl notes, with one spectator describing it as ‘very unusual and very significant’.
Meanwhile, the future Princess of Wales’s outfit also turned heads as she donned a tailor-made blue dress designed by Daniella Helayel.
While Kate had often worn her jersey wrap dresses, this marked the first time Ms Helayel had designed a ‘one-off couture frock’ for the princess-to-be at a cost upwards of £1,000.
‘It was a tell-tale sign that Kate was preparing herself for more future public engagements, and it just so happened that Issa had recently started designing bridalwear,’ Ms Nicholl writes.
When Kate and William first arrived at the venue, a spatial distance was apparent between the pair – with Ms James acknowledging that this may have been deliberately agreed beforehand to throw any onlookers off the scent.
Despite being a Home Counties girl thrust into the limelight, Kate appeared to be the leading figure here.
The soon-to-be princess was seen donning a ‘loving grin of excitement and reassurance’ that is quickly mirrored by William, who holds his right hand to his mouth to conceal a smile.
Explaining how Kate sought to reassure a prince who was ‘riddled with anxiety’, Ms James adds: ‘Kate’s signals as they walk past the cameras seem to be aimed at offering some reassurance at her ability to cope as her direct, dimpled smile as they finally make direct eye contact and chat would show.’
But William, who Ms James describes as ‘rather awkward-looking’, had good reason to be nervous – asking Kate to marry him was asking for more than just a life-long commitment to him, but also a commitment of public duty for the Royal Family.
Yet amid a sense of great uncertainty and anxiety, there were also glimpses of a couple who were perhaps rather smug that they were the only keepers of such a groundbreaking secret.
Ms James notes that William frequently attempts to stop himself from grinning, at one point deliberately ‘placing his finger to his nose in an attempt to mask the gleeful grin from the cameras’.
Meanwhile, Kate also has a ‘radiant, almost bridal smile’ and deliberately uses ‘a series of large cut-offs’ – pulling down her large hat while also flicking her hair in order to help detract attention away from her inner feelings of elation.
While the newly engaged couple made a bold statement by arriving at the event together, the pair evidently remain committed to avoid broadcasting their undeniable love and adoration for one another.
It is perhaps unsurprising that a wedding would be a challenging venue to suppress such loving feelings, with Ms James describing the event as synonymous with a ‘petri dish for their emotions’ given their intention to soon marry.
Yet, both William and Kate were giving it their best attempt – with William at one point seen ‘stuffing his hand in his trouser pocket while his facial muscles fight to hide the look of love’.
‘As they walk together their eyes finally meet and we can see William’s expression melt into the look of love. Kate hides her response smile behind her brim but we can see that she makes him laugh.’
Remaining committed to the cause of appearing physically separate, Ms James describes the couple’s attempts to avoid touching as ‘heroic’.
She adds: ‘Kate performs a finger-touch, light clasping gesture in front of her torso while William fiddles with a finger before stuffing his hand back into his pocket.’
But eventually, the pair appear to break – with Kate and William seen ‘allowing their inner arms to hang close and touching’ or ‘brushing in a truncated gesture that suggests they would normally hold hands or link arms’.
Following Harry and Rosie’s wedding ceremony, love was no doubt in the air for Kate and William, who emerged from the church in deep conversation.
As the couple walk alongside a close friend who was chatting happily to Kate, William made one final attempt to focus himself on the task at hand – ‘touching the knot of his tie in a ‘”steeling himself” ritual,’ Ms James explains.
Perhaps inspired by the loving nuptials they had just witnessed, when the pair finally get a moment alone, they are seen engaging in ‘some longed-for eye contact and shared smiles’.
Against the backdrop of church bells, the two walked happily side by side and shared a moment of great laughter, appearing relaxed and content in each other’s company.
For Kate, who had long waited for her Prince Charming to pop the question, it marked a transformational moment as she was finally able to enjoy a ‘look of loving and amused affection’ with her beloved William in the public domain.
That night, as the couple enjoyed the celebrations at the wedding reception, several of their friends made humorous comments that it soon could be them walking down the aisle.
Kate was said to have ‘smiled’ and provided a clear diplomatic response: ‘Maybe he’ll get round to it someday’, while William laughed the comments off.
At that moment, Kate and William were the only two in the world who knew the truth – they were already engaged to be married, with it now just a matter of time before the world heard the news.
What followed was a series of procedural arrangements and royal protocols – ensuring the permission of Kate’s father, Michael, alongside the blessing of the late Queen, before their engagement could be confirmed.
The couple would announce their plans to marry just a few weeks later in front of the press at St James’s Palace. It marked the start of the royal couple solidifying themselves as stable figures in the Firm and vital players in its evolution.
Following a fairytale wedding in April 2011, and now more than 15 years on, the royal power couple appear to be more loved-up than ever before, with their romance showing little signs of cooling.
But their public displays of affection (PDA) are no doubt traced back to the 2010 wedding held at that quaint Gloucestershire church – with Kate and William’s secret engagement the final go-ahead for them to finally showcase their love for all to see.
