Lip reader shares Princess Kate’s touching comment to Prince William | Royal | News

From virtually the moment they are born, members of the Royal Family are expected to perform as diplomats, carefully monitoring every word they speak—a level of scrutiny few ordinary people will ever experience. Now, a team of forensic lip-readers has analyzed footage of the royals in candid moments, revealing private thoughts and sentiments that the public has never heard before.

One notable example comes from Channel 5’s Lip-Reading the Royals: What Are They Really Saying?, which examines a 2016 occasion when the Prince and Princess of Wales recreated the late Princess Diana’s visit outside India’s iconic Taj Mahal. As the royal couple walked outside the massive mausoleum in Agra, lip-reading specialists claim that Princess Catherine reminded her husband of how his mother appeared in 1992, shortly before her marriage ended. Prince William, however, did not appear to acknowledge her remarks, continuing quietly in the blistering 41ºC (106ºF) heat.

Royal-watcher Cristo Foufas calls it a notable moment: “What’s interesting here is that the comparison to William’s mother, Diana, actually comes from Princess Catherine, his wife, saying ‘Didn’t your mother look good?’ And when she mentioned that, William doesn’t actually acknowledge it.”

He adds: “Whether that’s because he didn’t want to reference it in front of the media, or because it was too painful, we’ll never know.”

Cristo suggests William may have addressed the exchange privately, perhaps telling Catherine something like: “I just didn’t want to talk about Mum there because someone might overhear.” He notes: “He’s not silly. There would be a reason for deflecting the conversation.”

Instead, the lip-readers suggest, William made a gentle complaint about the heat and remarked that he hadn’t worn his formal blue sports jacket. When Catherine suggested he might remove it, William replied: “Are you kidding? I don’t think anything I wear would cool me down.”

While William and Catherine stopped for a photo on the so-called “Diana bench” in front of the Taj Mahal, a Kensington Palace spokesperson told reporters there was no particular significance to the choice: “They made the decision because it is what all visitors to the Taj Mahal do—they sit on the bench with the perfect symmetry of the building behind them.”

Elsewhere in the documentary, the lip-readers reveal private, flirtatious exchanges between the couple, with Kate telling William: “You do look very smart,” and him replying, “You do know how it makes me feel.”

Coverage of William and Kate’s visit to India is featured in Episode 4 of Lip-Reading the Royals, airing at 8pm on Saturday, March 21.