Prince William’s ‘wink’ at Catherine might not be what it seems

A clip of Prince William apparently 'winking' at his wife, the Princess of Wales, has gone viral since it was released on the sports podcast, The Good, The Bad and The Rugby.

But for me, an avid royal watcher (and someone who is fascinated by, yet not particularly supportive of, the monarchy in Britain), I think the 'wink' that some think was a flirty, playful gesture from the prince, was nothing more than an excited facial twitch. I've seen him wink at her before, which looked somewhat different, but also – try this for yourself – when you're winking at someone, in general, you'll use the eye nearest to the person. He uses his other eye, which to me seems incongruous with a genuine wink. Just saying. Not that they aren't having some good old (extremely gentle and subdued) royal flirty banter, but more so that it's not quite the come-on people are saying it might be. One of the presenters, James Haskell, inspired the moment by bringing up the competition between Prince William and Princess Catherine, saying: 'I'm not going to lie... but Mike has made out both of you are super, super competitive, a bit like Monica from Friends, and if you guys play table tennis it will go on for hours and hours, and be like, double or quits." To which Kate replied: "I'm really not that competitive, I don't know where this has come from!" Here's the clip from the Mail Online. You can judge for yourself. She also admitted that she and her husband struggle to finish a game of tennis as the competitive streak in both turns it into a "mental challenge between the two of us". Mike then asked if the couple's three children Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, eight, and Prince Louis, five, are showing signs of competitiveness, to which their great-aunt Princess Anne responded: "Just a little bit, I would suggest." Here's the full episode should you be interested in further examination.

READ MORE

• Royal family members "won't talk" to Prince Harry at Coronation following invite

• Why you have never seen a picture of the Queen pregnant - even though she has four children

• Prince William expresses "profound sorrow" over slavery

• William and Kate thank Derry community during "inspirational" visit