Lip Reader Tells Us Kate Cut Off William During Viral Balcony Moment At Trooping The Colour 2024

When Catherine, Princess of Wales, announced just one day before that she was attending the Trooping the Colour on June 15, 2024, the world breathlessly awaited her arrival. It was the first time in months that the princess made an appearance in public after having sequestered herself while undergoing cancer treatments. Fans were not disappointed. Looking fresh and bright in a white dress with blue trim that was quite possibly sending secret messages about her return to royal duties, she and her three children happily watched the events from a window in Buckingham Palace while her husband, William, Prince of Wales, was part of the military procession.

All signs pointed to a celebratory day, not only for England, but for Kate's seemingly improving health. But that all came to an abrupt halt as the royal family, including William, stepped out onto the balcony to watch military aircraft performing fly-over maneuvers. It seemed like all was not right between the prince and princess, who largely ignored each other — with the exception of what looked like a heated exchange of whispers. 

The List checked in with Nicola Hickling, founder of LipReader, to see what the couple were saying to each other during the awkward moment — not the first that the two have shared that have made people uncomfortable. While Kate kept a smile plastered on her face, our expert exclusively shared that she uttered two loaded words to her husband: "Never mind."

The conversation between Catherine, Princess of Wales, and William, Prince of Wales during the 2024 Trooping the Colour didn't appear to be a dose of sweet nothings, but rather a larger disagreement. Nicola Hickling, an expert in lipreading, transcribed the couple's conversation exclusively for The List. According to Hickling, it began with William telling his wife, "Can you accept that? You win." He then followed his apparent mea culpa with, "Let me tell you I'm wrong." Whether his alleged apology was sincere or not, Kate simply replied with what looked to be a curt response, saying, "Never mind."

While the princess kept a smile on her face during the duo's exchange, body-language expert Nicole Moore, who is also the founder & CEO of Love Works Method, observed it wasn't genuine, supporting the argumentative nature of their whispers. "Her smile is tight and wide horizontally; it doesn't curve upward as it would if it were a natural smile," she exclusively told The List. (That same killer smile also sparked some bizarre conspiracy theories.)

Moore also noted that Kate pulled away from William when he tried to draw closer to her, demonstrating a desire to stand on her own. "Kate's body language doesn't indicate any anger towards her husband here; however, it does indicate that she is likely putting on a front and hiding deeper emotions," Moore shared. Emotions she intended to keep to herself when she cut off William with her "never mind."