People: Prince William ‘treats Kate like his bride,’ they’re ‘more loved-up than ever’

Whatever happened between Prince William and Kate in 2023-2024, they seem to have figured out some kind of agreement. They’ve seemed steadier, in a sense, this year. Meaning, there doesn’t seem to be the drama of William promoting himself as a sexy bald bachelor, nor are the Middletons constantly reminding William (via tabloid leaks) that he’s part of THEIR family. I’ve believed since April/May 2024 that a deal was struck between the Windsors and the Middletons and it’s been “smooth sailing” ever since. William and Kate do a couple of appearances together every few months, they have lots of “family vacations,” Kate gets a large manor house (Forest Lodge) and William gets to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, while still retaining his family-man image. It’s a “successful marriage” in both a modern and Victorian way. But that’s not good enough for the Keen fans. They can’t admit what’s right in front of them. They’ve been desperately trying to convince themselves for years that William & Kate are hot for each other and that this is still a love match. An excerpt from People’s cover story:

Those close to Kate Middleton and Prince William say they have emerged more connected than ever after a turbulent few years. After more than 20 years together, the Prince and Princess of Wales, both 43, have shown subtle but unmistakable shifts in their dynamic — gentle touches, shared smiles, hands resting at each other’s backs.

“He treats her like his bride,” royal historian Amanda Foreman tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story. “They seem more loved-up than ever.”

That renewed warmth was on full display on Nov. 19 at the Royal Variety Performance, where William lifted Kate’s hand for a kiss as they arrived and kept a protective hand at her back as they entered Royal Albert Hall. The glam night out marked their first red carpet in two years, a meaningful milestone following Kate’s chemotherapy treatment in 2024.

“What they have been through over the last few years has been so terrible,” Foreman says. “That either drives couples apart, or, in their case, it brings them together. It irons out the kinks and enables them to see each other clearly.”

It has been a defining year for the Princess and Princess of Wales after a difficult stretch for the royal family — from Queen Elizabeth’s death in 2022 to the turbulence that followed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s bombshell docuseries and Harry’s subsequent memoir, published in 2023.

Then came the upheavals of 2024. In February, King Charles revealed his cancer diagnosis just as Princess Kate was privately confronting her own, a reality she would not share publicly until March. By then, she had prepared her children and endured weeks of speculation and online conspiracy theories about her whereabouts and health.

“She didn’t just face a life-­ threatening illness — the global Internet went after her,” Foreman says. “It was a character assassination.”

[From People]

It feels like this kind of “Will and Kate are SO IN LOVE” rhetoric steadily increased when Prince Harry married Meghan, right? When faced with two people so demonstrably in love with each other, so tactile and sexy with each other, suddenly William and Kate were like “US TOO, we’re like that too!” Well, Kate was like that. William still refuses to play along for the most part, which is fine because so many royalists just blatantly lie, as seen above. It’s so funny to me that they cite “William putting his hand on Kate’s back” as evidence that “he treats her like his bride.” Most of the time, when William does that, he’s nudging her along and trying to get her to move. Whenever she tries to grab his ass or touch him, he either swats her away or moves out of reach. But he treats her like a bride, you guys!

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

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76 Responses to “People: Prince William ‘treats Kate like his bride,’ they’re ‘more loved-up than ever’”

  1. Alicky says:

    Stomach-turning schmaltz!

    • kelleybelle says:

      Eggs-actly. Kate’s hand on his back is all for the cameras. And Christ, from behind he looks like an octogenarian. Yet another reason to never buy People again, just as I haven’t done for many years.

    • myserious says:

      What romance, William looks at her as though she is poisonous. No one other than paid media has said anything nice about her, plus there is no evidence of any friends. No-one gravitates towards her, children avoid her too. Mumbles oscar winning performances, always playing the victim, the delicate English rose, the poor downtrodden wife. A documented exhibitionist, started exposing her naked butt regularly at University and continues into current times. No evidence whatsoever historically of any empathy kindness or caring for anyone other than herself. A very determined predatory stalker, flashed most of her naked body to the paparazzi, drunk or sober regularly exposing her lack of underwear in public. An extreme mean spirited bully, constantly manipulating to make herself the primary focus at every event, even tried to dominate QEII’s Platinum Jubilee. Refuses to work, compared to worldwide royals nothing but an arrogant self indulging failure. Forced her very rough very common grifter family on to the BRF . William scraped the bottom of the barrel by marrying the last one standing , after all his choices rejected his proposals. Recent hand kissing In the car story, William was leaning over taking a drink from a cup and was not kissing mumbles hand. More BM fantasy stories not considering the truth.

  2. jais says:

    What is this hand kiss that they speak of, lol? But sure, if sources tell People.

    • Eurydice says:

      There was a long-distance blurry clip of William kissing Kate’s hand before they got out of the car. It looked weird and perfunctory, like “Ok, now kiss my hand.” And then they got out of the car like they were strangers.

      • jais says:

        Really? How bizarre.

      • First comment says:

        Yeah, but others noticed that the so called hand kissing was William drinking something before leaving the car…the whole video is not at all clear but I think that Kate was turned towards the door, ready to leave the car, so William couldn’t possibly kiss her hand…

      • Me at home says:

        Yeah, some who looked at the picture said it was a flask not Kate’s hand.

        LOL at Kaiser posting the blonde Cousin It wig at every opportunity. Although, my bleeding eyes….

      • Eurydice says:

        The flask thing makes more sense, considering how the video continued – all I saw was William ducking his head toward something light-colored. And if there had been a “sweet moment” between them, the press would have milked it for a lot longer than they did.

    • Magdalena says:

      William did not kiss Kate’s hand. He was swigging booze from a flask, said to be held by Kate (so she was helping him to get his fix before exiting the vehicle). It’s interesting that People Ragazine is printing this lie at this late stage, because as soon as the few Kate fans who were bleating about how romantic it was realised that it was Kate’s hand holding the bottle and that William was in fact taking a drink, they went VERY quiet – so quiet that it was noticeable. Does People Rag really want people to be delving behind the dynamics of all those instances they’ve named? 😀

      • Nic919 says:

        Not only is the hand kiss false, there is a picture of Kate from inside the car and she looks annoyed with him.

        So this article is entirely based in a false story. Gaslighting at its purest.

  3. Maxine Branch says:

    Seems like they are writing fantasy because the reality is what we see and it does not reflect a couple in love, it reflects a couple tolerating each other’s presence.

    • Gtwiecz says:

      They’re not formally separated, but they live separate lives. She at Forrest Lodge, him at KP.

      • Mightymolly says:

        What you’re describing is a historically accurate posh marriage. If it works for them, I don’t even care. They’re both getting what they want. But the media PR about newlyweds in love is almost comical. Like, long term couples especially with kids want a more mature love. Newlywed love sounds exhausting after decades.

  4. Dee(2) says:

    I know that photos are subjective but man that last photo is so sad. Just obvious desperation in the eyes and looking to make sure camera’s are catching their “love”.

    If this is what they want for the rest of their lives, so be it. I only feel for their kids because this has to be difficult to navigate and confusing. As for their fans they don’t care about them it’s only about Harry and Meghan and their inherently racist issue with their happiness. If Harry was single still they wouldn’t care at all if they broke up. They’d probably be spinning fanfic about clandestine longing between Kate and Harry.

    • Mac says:

      That is the face of a man who resents being dressed up like a 1940’s bellhop to entertain Donald Trump. Thanks to never ending hit jobs by the tabloids, Meghan is deeply unpopular among royalists and Kate is, and will remain, their English Rose. That is why we are seeing articles like this one.

      • Magdalena says:

        When William and Kate went as airport greeters to the Trumps, William was just as giddy as he had been when he met Trump in France. He was so close to Trump that it appeared that they were holding hands, while Kate was walking well off to the side of the trio: William, Trump and Melania. He looked more relaxed in Trump’s company than in his wife’s. If he looks sad or miserable there, it’s not because of Trump.

  5. Nanea says:

    We all saw how Scooter treated his bride back when.

    From missing the wedding rehearsal to apparently being heavily hungover on the actual day of the wedding to ignoring her at the altar — not turning around to watch her enter WAbbey, to having her ask him afterwards if he was happy now…

    So yeah, seems like nothing has changed. Bulliam the Incandescent still can’t really stand Mumblina McButtons.

    • Blujfly says:

      Right? Then spending swaths of the next two years apart, her living with her parents, him in “wales” or wherever, plus the pre engagement try outs and tests like suing photographers she was cooperating with.

    • Neeve says:

      He missed his wedding rehearsal? And whats this about him asking if she is happy..when,what,where? In a way I feel sorry for him,I dont know why they allowed a repeat of this forced marriages right after Charles.

      • BeanieBean says:

        No, right after they got into the carriage for the procession back to the palace, she asked him ‘are you happy now?’ per lip readers.

      • Tessa says:

        Charles was not forced. He was 32 and courted a 19 year old aristo to marry and have heirs with. Diana fell for his line. Camilla even encouraged the marriage

    • Mac says:

      William was on duty with the RAF for the wedding rehearsal that took place two weeks before the wedding. He did attend the rehearsal a few days before the wedding. It’s tradition in England for the groom to wait for the bride to reach the alter before looking at her. Harry did the same thing. After the wedding, lip readers said Kate said, “I’m so happy,” during their carriage ride. The state of their marriage is obvious without embellishing the facts.

      • kelleybelle says:

        Harry turned around and looked because he couldn’t resist! Meghan even made a visible “Hey!” gesture when Chuck was walking her up the aisle.

      • Magdalena says:

        Let us not rewrite history here: after the wedding, the lip readers said that Kate asked William: “Are you happy?” and there were many who found it odd.

        Similarly with: “It’s tradition in England for the groom to wait for the bride to reach the alter before looking at her.” This is most definitely not true. Among royal grooms (and grooms all over England), William was the outlier.

        And yes, it was reported in the media that Harry took William’s place “at the wedding rehearsal” and no-one explained at the time why William could not attend.

        ETA: Exactly, kelleybelle: Harry turned around to look at Meghan, Eugenie’s husband turned to look at her. Harry was trying to get William to turn to look at Kate and William absolutely refused. That “tradition” of English grooms waiting until the bride reaches the altar only became a “thing” after people online pointed out how odd it was that William refused to look at Kate. One of the things Englishmen talk about at their anniversary dinners is watching their brides walk up the aisle to meet them at the altar.

      • Nic919 says:

        Is this like the tradition where only William has no wedding band, but Harry, Charles, Edward, Andrew and Philip all had one. (Outside of Harry they wore theirs with the signet ring on another finger but they still have one. William couldn’t even bother to get one).

  6. Wow the lies continue 1. Don’t believe she had cancer and 2. Loved up? We have eyes gutter press we see the pictures where Peg looks like he wants to be anywhere but with her and it seems they are so “loved up” that they had to photoshop a Christmas card. Stop with these made up fairytales!!

    • Lorelei says:

      It’s so pathetic that they have to print this propaganda to try and combat what we see with our own eyes all year, every year: William — for whatever reason — cannot stand to be around his wife. He so clearly disdains her and is always more relaxed looking when he’s on his own.

  7. HeatherC says:

    Wow, someone’s desperate to rewrite the very visible non-love story we’ve watched for years. Things must truly be miserable in Middleton land because this didn’t come from William. That would require him giving a shit.

  8. Seaside says:

    He can’t even pretend for long in public.
    That sneer always comes out.
    If he can’t project the persona of a loving husband for a few hours in public I can only imagine what he is like behind closed doors.

  9. Tessa says:

    All a facade. I doubt Scooter sees much of her nor do they live under the same roof. Or he lives in another wing of the Forever Home. It’s like those old fan magazines where the two movie stars who married are “very much in love” and the next week they are splitsville. All about image. It is rather cloying why do they feel the need to blast this spin if there is no trouble?

    • Mightymolly says:

      To me, it doesn’t even seem all that weird or upsetting that they have a business marriage. Romantic love is crazy middle class. Us plebs enjoy being in love, but we also can’t afford separate lives. I’m mostly being sarcastic but it’s also true, right? I have no idea who I’d be if I’d always been fabulously wealthy and marriage was only about breeding. But also I live in the 21st century.

      • Nic919 says:

        The UK media keeps trying to sell it as a real love story when it never was and that’s why it’s a joke.
        Plus when a couple like Harry and Meghan show up and are actually in love, it makes this transactional relationship look worse.
        If they are going to lie about the marriage then they deserve all the mockery.

  10. Tessa says:

    Keen is putting on a performance when she touches Scooter’s back a gets a smug look for the cameras. He does not even look at her.

  11. Chloe says:

    Their “PDA” is always incredibly forced and awkward to watch and that is because neither of these two are PDA people.

    For all this talk about the Middletons being more “relaxed” i wonder if that is true because Kate is stiffer than most upper class Brits.

    • Mac says:

      Kate is stiff because she doesn’t understand the rules of aristocracy well enough to break them. After 20 years with William she is still an outsider.

    • Nic919 says:

      So many of the “looks” are just Chris Jackson taking a photo where it sort of looked like they are looking at each other but when you look closer William is looking not at Kate but just in that direction while she stares at him for the photo.

      • Lorelei says:

        Considering the amount of time and effort Chris Jackson has put into photographing and photoshopping Kate for the past 16 years, he must really be after a knighthood or something. His nose must be permanently stained brown.

  12. s808 says:

    they’re still so jealous/insecure cause there’s no need to do this. not every couple is so visibly hot for each other like H&M. it doesn’t mean those people aren’t happily married. there’s no need to sell this fantasy, just look like you hate each other in public.

    • jais says:

      Agree. From the beginning, they never needed to make physical affection a competition. Every couple is different. But, yeah there was so much jealous insecurity.

      • Lady Digby says:

        💯 agree with both comments. Will is formal, reserved and very upright in public. PDAs aren’t his attachment style. However, there has been a difference in how they appear in public together over the past 5 years. They look very strained and use the kids as a buffer during certain events. He looks like he’s having a migraine from being around her and that must be wearing on both of them. Kate makes a lot more effort in public; she looks at him, she tries physical contact and she performs for the camera. The September 24 video was very revealing of her willingness to appear as a desired wife and his inability to unclench and even fake it for a couple of minutes. The intimacy co ordinator can’t have told Will to imagine he was being rubbed all over with cold rubbarb, can she?

      • Magdalena says:

        And yet William is VERY relaxed, tactile and all smiley with his aunt, Sophie in public. And even with his cousin Zara. And sometimes even with complete strangers.

        He just has a frigid relationship with his wife. There was a time when they got along, then there was a time when he could fake it. But it’s clear that things have gone so far now that he views her with something akin to contempt. And he is no longer even trying to hide it – unless someone pokes him in the ribs from time to time.

      • Nic919 says:

        No pda is one thing but as others stated, William looks way more relaxed when he’s on his own, or with Sophie or really any time Kate is not there. He wasn’t always this obvious, but post Oprah interview is when he started to show his staring around Kate.

      • Lorelei says:

        Exactly. No one thinks there is or ever was anything going on between William and Sophie, but he looked happier with his aunt than he does with his wife, which is odd to say the least.

  13. Tessa says:

    Yet Keen managed to go on vacations including ski trips where she hit the slopes –skiing IS a rugged sport. Not buying into the “frail” Keen spin.

  14. Tis True, Tis True says:

    Like a Bride of Dracula!🧛‍♂️ 👰🏻🤡

  15. First comment says:

    Who are they trying to convince? We have eyes and we can see…

  16. Lady Digby says:

    I agree with Kaiser ‘s take on a new deal for Kate and the Midds and there will be no divorce unless Will actually seriously falls in love with someone who makes him happy and would be more competent as consort. Kate is PROUD and wants the maximum so is happy to stage “madly in love” married couple in public however, Will isn’t. I feel very sorry for the kids because when they mix with couples who love and respect each other they are going to realise that mum and dad not getting on, isn’t the norm.

  17. Kim says:

    God her posture in that third photo – atrocious! She looks like an old woman all hunched over like that. My mother – who was a stickler for good posture and quick with the gentle reminder to “stand up straight” – would be appalled.

    • jais says:

      There’s a SM video floating around of some royal body language person, maybe from the Sun?, in which this lady analyzes a picture of Meghan having amazing posture while standing next to the Queen and she is nasty about it, rolling her eyes, about how royals would never stand like this bc iirc it shows someone feeling too highly of themselves or something like that. It was weird. But now it makes sense. Kate’s posture is so bad, so horrendous, that they have now resorted to saying that royals don’t actually stand gracefully with poise and posture. They’ve lost the plot.

      • BeanieBean says:

        ?????? What the ever-lovin’ f—? 🤷‍♀️. Bad posture is royal now?? Good posture is bad?! 🤣

    • M says:

      Her posture always reminds me of the scene in The Princess Diaries when Amelia is being given lessons, and the Queen imitates her bad posture by walking all slumped down in front of the doorway.

  18. QuiteContrary says:

    I agree that they’ve come to some sort of agreement, but this is certainly not a romance. I’ve seen more romance in a Mr. Bean movie.

  19. Becks1 says:

    They seem so awkward when they touch in public – William shooing her along, Kate trying to make sure the cameras got her touching his ass or whatever – again like was said yesterday, there is no warmth there. You can sense when there is a warmth between a couple even without touching. Compare the Obamas or the Bidens to Trump and Melania.

    I do think some sort of deal was reached and part of that deal was Kate gets to work as little as possible and that William gets to live a bachelor lifestyle of football and beer etc but he’ll stop pushing the sexy single dad image. It’s clear something shifted.

    It kind of reminds me of the end of the Nanny Diaries (the book, didn’t see the movie) when the husband is clearly having an affair and wants a divorce and the wife announces she’s pregnant again and is incredibly smug about it because she knows divorce is now off the table. I think of Kate’s cancer announcement that way – it took divorce off the table at least for a few years.

    • Magdalena says:

      There is a period film like that as well, Becks1, starring Michelle Pfeiffer as the other woman. Can’t remember the name. And the wife goes to the mistress and basically asks her to give up the husband “because things are different” and she lovingly strokes her belly. The impression in the film is that she isn’t actually pregnant, but she pretends that she is and appeals to the honour of the mistress, who then gives up the husband in a most brutal way, leaving him with no choice but to return to his wife. The wife had known that her husband was head over heels in love with his mistress – the whole “court” had been talking about them – and that he would have left her, child or no child.

      I thought of that film when Kate’s “cancer was present” video came out. I think I called it one hell a Hail Mary.

      • Granger says:

        Age of Innocence, based on the book by Edith Wharton. Directed by Martin Scorcese. It’s a beautiful film. Winona Ryder plays the wife and she’s really good in the role — she comes across as sweet and innocent, but really, she knows exactly what’s going on and knows that if her husband leaves her, he’ll ruin her standing in society, so she has to play her own game. Daniel Day Lewis is the husband and as always, he’s brilliant!

    • Magdalena says:

      Just wanted to add: Speaking of pregnancy, “smug” is the way I thought that Kate looked throughout her third pregnancy. I recall some saying that there would be no way William would divorce her now. But then things clearly took a downward turn after that when the attacks on H+M ramped up, forcing them to leave, and the Oprah interview revealed that Kate had in fact the one who bullied the bride and made her cry.

  20. Amy Bee says:

    These same people get outraged whenever Harry and Meghan show affection to each other. Why is the reaction so different when William and Kate touch each other’s back? Mind you they only started doing that in the last year or so.

  21. Sharon says:

    This is so embarrassing & cringe to say “like a bride” after decades together, and it was never a big romantic story to begin with.

    • BeanieBean says:

      What’s ‘like a bride’ even mean for a couple who’d been living together for ten years before even walking up the aisle?

      • Tessa says:

        And he kept on breaking up with her over the waiting for ring years. And he settled after other women turned him down.

  22. Lady Digby says:

    This is symptomatic of RF PR: very over the top and wish fulfilment; they wish Will was madly in love with his wife and a dutiful, competent and hardworking PoW. They go to ridiculous lengths to convince the public that there is nothing wrong with either the marriage or his work ethic.

    • Lorelei says:

      They must severely underestimate the intelligence of the people paying any attention to them if they think anything in this article is believable.

  23. Weatherby says:

    Meh, they have their ups and their downs. It’s the only truly consistent thing about their situation, really.

    William has taken to ignoring her completely, which I suppose is a step up from the chastising he did for a while just outside earshot, but in front of cameras nevertheless. He says no words to her at all, in fact, and maintains a stony, glossy-eyed stare directed straight ahead.

    This indifference being their new high point is not a good omen.

  24. Monlette says:

    My aunt and uncle did this too…to hide their impending divorce after his adultery. Performative touches and hand kisses for an audience aren’t tells of a happy marriage, but rather the opposite, since how many of us do that when things are going well?

  25. Debbie says:

    This story, to me, feels like the way the media tries to “embiggen” the Wales’s modest work efforts. Like when they aggrandize the Wales giving a visiting dignitary a ride from the airport as a “crucial role” in a state visit. This role is so “crucial” it could only be performed by one other man, an anonymous taxi driver, or maybe Uber. It’s odd to see them doing it to the Wales’s marriage as well.

    • Lady Digby says:

      Exactly Debbie why tell us they are like newly weds and that no one else is as happy as them?! They are Effortlessly In Lurve!! They are magical at work!? They bless everything they touch?! The earth trembles when they do the school run or pick up Trump from the airport!! All advertising and no product!

      • Unblinkered says:

        Sadly, the wider UK public have bought into that message and appear to believe it – which is what the UK establishment and the likes of Carol Middleton are relying on.
        However, this is driven by a growing disinterest in W&K and the rest of the RF and it will be interesting to see how the RF PR teams handle it when the time comes to announce that the two idiots are ‘separating’ …… as it surely must.

  26. Nic919 says:

    I guess they are so arrogant they believe that lying about being a functional couple won’t do the opposite and bring attention to just how dysfunctional they are in public.

    Right now Melania and orange man are better at pretending they have a real marriage.

  27. Jferber says:

    In the header picture they look hella amazed that any would call them loved-up.

  28. jferber says:

    What a C you next Tuesday Tina Brown is. Putting her lie in the mouth of a dead woman who cannot nay say Tina’s racist rants against the Sussexes. The royal-adjacent trash “news” reporters will NEVER stop their racist slurs against Prince Harry’s children. If Kate really wants to be a peace maker (and she does not), she should begin by having all the crap printed about the Sussexes to stop. She should announce this publicly so there is no mistake that she is chastising the press for their ignominious practices. But she will not because she WANTS all the invective and lies against the Sussexes to keep coming because (in her mind) it makes her look better as the lily white wife of lazy Will. And she probably thinks (and is certainly right) that she will never be truly condemned for her laziness because she is white and her whiteness trumps laziness and all other faults.

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