The Prince and Princess of Wales put on a united front on Sunday as they stepped out together.

13:16, Mon, Feb 23, 2026 Updated: 13:19, Mon, Feb 23, 2026

Prince William and Catherine

Prince William and Princess Catherine stepped out together on Sunday (Image: Scott Garfitt/BAFTA via Getty Images)

Prince William and Princess Catherine may have made a joint appearance on Sunday; however, one body language expert believes they have spotted signs of “tension”. The Prince and Princess of Wales walked the red carpet at the BAFTAs together and watched the ceremony front row, with smiles all round.

However, while they may have been smiling on the outside, a body language expert said there was one thing missing from the appearance that could be a sign of “tension”. That is the lack of physical touch between the couple at their first joint appearance since Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest last week.

While the couple aren’t necessarily known for many displays of affection in public, body language expert Judi James thinks it signals stress.

She told Hello!: “William and Kate delivered their usual, impeccable red carpet A-list glamour here, but there are a handful of tells that might reflect the undeniable tensions of the past week.

"[The royals] walk side by side with their arms hanging loose at their sides, with a closeness of the dangling inner hands suggesting a desire to clasp hands here or perhaps to perform the kind of signature truncated touches, pats and strokes they often give each other to support each other at events like this.

"Instead of touching, though, we can see the fingers of William's right hand slightly curled so that his index finger touches his thumb, hinting at a self-soothe ritual."

Judi also said that William seemed stressed, with some moments showing “his lips are pulled inward and his brows pulled into a small frown, suggesting some anxiety".

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Prince William and Princess Catherine

The couple showed little PDA (Image: Samir Hussein/WireImage)

She also said that while Princess Catherine was all smiles, the “placing of the teeth” signalled some inner tension.

The couple did not make any comments about Andrew, but William did hint that he wasn’t currently feeling “calm” at the moment.

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He made this admission when he revealed he hadn’t watched the new film Hamnet.

He told chief executive of BT Group Allison Kirkby: “I can't watch it yet. I need to be in quite a calm state, and I'm not at the moment. I will save it."