Kate Middleton Playfully Taps Prince William’s Butt on BAFTAs Red Carpet

Prince William and Kate Middleton made it to this year’s BAFTAs — and showed off some rare PDA while they were at it. After a two-year hiatus, the Prince and Princess of Wales made an appearance at the awards ceremony. The pair even showed off a little public display of affection while on the red carpet. In a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, Kate can be seen giving William a gentle pat on the behind. Vogue shared the clip on Instagram and TikTok with a caption that even royals “like to cop a feel.”

Kate wore a white one-shouldered Alexander McQueen gown with full-length black gloves for the event while William matched her with a black velvet suit jacket and leather shoes. They showcased their incredibly chic looks as they walked the red carpet together. During their time on the red carpet, they were captured on video by Vogue. Kate could be seen with a big smile on her face as he spoke, and she then gave him a quick pat on the butt. William and Kate typically do not engage in PDA, especially at official events. So, it’s definitely fun to see the couple having a light-hearted moment at the recent event. 

@voguemagazine

KateMiddleton’s butt tap (grab?) of #PrinceWilliam is everything you need to see to know that royals are just like us and every married couple out there. As seen on the #BAFTAs red carpet.

♬ original sound – Vogue

The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall were on hand to watch Helen Mirren pay tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II. Mirren, who won an Oscar for portraying the monarch in The Queen (2006), began her speech by saying, “Cinema at its best does what Her Majesty did effortlessly – bring us together and unite us through a story. Your Majesty, you were our nation’s leading star.” The actor went on to say that the BAFTA organization “would not be what it is today” without Elizabeth’s support. 

This year marked William and Kate’s return to the BAFTAs after a two-year hiatus. Even though he wasn’t going to be there in 2021, William was meant to deliver a speech virtually. But, his plans changed after his grandfather, Prince Philip, died that year. He ended up delivering a video message in 2022 when he could not attend the event in person. In his speech, he praised the nominees for highlighting important issues such as climate change in their programming. 

“Now more than ever, programme makers have a unique opportunity to ensure climate change and sustainability remain at the forefront of our collective consciousness. By creating innovative, educational and emotive content for television, writers and producers are playing a unique role in ensuring the future of our planet is something that we all want to talk about,” William said. “Over the past year, we’ve seen some fantastic examples of this across a wide variety of programmes and genres. I hope you will all continue to carry on your invaluable work, keeping environmental issues high up on the agenda of programming in the years ahead.”