Prince William and Kate Middleton's display of affection on the day of their 2011 royal wedding has gone viral after being spotted by social-media fans on TikTok.
Britain's Prince and Princess of Wales married at Westminster Abbey, London, on April 29, 2011, after dating for nearly 10 years. The event was marked with a public holiday, and the traditional Buckingham Palace balcony appearance took place after the ceremony, featuring a kiss from the couple.
After the wedding and subsequent luncheon hosted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, William and Kate drove to nearby Clarence House (King Charles III's then-home in the City of Westminster, London, when the previous Prince of Wales). There, the couple prepared to party at an evening reception back at the palace some hours later.
Uploaded to TikTok by user l0velycatherine on July 13, an edited clip showing the couple leaving Clarence House dressed for their palace party has gone viral, with more than 187,500 views so far.
The clips, captured by an official news camera covering the day's events, show the couple walking through the long entrance corridor of Clarence House. There then is a cut to footage appearing to show William reaching for Kate's hand in the back of a car.
The video has received over 23,000 likes and numerous comments, many of which have praised the couple who marked their 12th wedding anniversary this year.
@l0velycatherine William put his arm on Catherine’s lap 🙈 || #williamandcatherine #princewilliam #princesscatherine #princesskate #katemiddleton #fyp #l0velycatherine ♬ Everyday - Ariana Grande
"That's so cute," wrote one user, with another adding: "Lowkey but not secret so adorbs [adorable]."
A further comment read: "Loved their reception outfits."
For the wedding ceremony itself at Westminster Abbey, William dressed in his uniform as colonel of the Irish Guards. This is reported to have been at the request of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, who liked the look of the uniform's scarlet-red tunic in the abbey setting.
For her wedding dress, Kate looked to one of her favorite British design houses—one that has been responsible for most of her important royal formalwear ever since—Alexander McQueen.
Working closely with creative director Sarah Burton, Kate's dress featured a fluted skirt with engineered panels that fanned out as she walked down the aisle, and a sweetheart neckline covered by a lace overlay collar and sleeves.
For the evening reception, William changed into a tuxedo. Kate opted for a second dress designed by McQueen, featuring a fit-and-flare silhouette with a bejeweled belt accessory.
On the day of his marriage, Queen Elizabeth gave William the old royal family title of Duke of Cambridge, one that hadn't been used since 1904. As such, when she entered Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011, as Miss Catherine Middleton, Kate left as Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge. She was also Duchess of Rothesay, Countess of Carrick, and Baroness Renfrew, among other titles she took as William's wife.
The couple have three children: Prince George (born in 2013); Princess Charlotte (born, 2015); and Prince Louis (born, 2018). In September 2022, the Cambridge family's life was altered by the death of Elizabeth and the accession of King Charles III.
One of Charles' first act as king was to make William the new Prince of Wales, the most senior royal title not held by the monarch himself. Kate became the Princess of Wales—the first to use the title since the death of Princess Diana in a 1997 Paris car crash—and the Cambridge children became the Wales children.
When Charles married his wife Camilla, now Queen Consort, in 2005 following his divorce from Diana in 1996, she too became by virtue of her husband's title, the Princess of Wales. However, out of respect for Diana, Camilla did not publicly use it.
In their new positions, one degree closer to the crown, the Waleses have seen their public appearances increase over the past year. The whole family was represented at Charles' coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey, London, on May 6, the site of William and Kate's wedding 12 years earlier.
Throughout their marriage, the couple have made regular public displays of affection, often to the delight of fans who repost clips and images to social media that then go viral.
Most recently, earlier this July, Kate's congratulatory PDA for her husband following his win in a charity polo match in Windsor, Berkshire, England, was celebrated as it coincided with International Kissing Day.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
