Prince William and Kate Middleton's Ceremony Smiles Become Viral Hit

Images of Prince William and Kate Middleton, Prince and Princess of Wales, have been shared by fans online, highlighting their shared smiles during an annual royal event at Windsor Castle.

In a new viral video, William and Kate's coy smiles during the Garter Day commemorations at Windsor on Monday have been compared and uploaded to TikTok, highlighting their similarities over the course of a number of years.

Garter Day is a series of ceremonial events that take place each year at Windsor Castle to commemorate the Order of the Garter, Britain's oldest and highest ranking order of chivalry. The order of the garter is an honor awarded to people who have provided a service to the nation or the monarchy. The king or queen of the day chooses who is in the order, not the government, and male members are known as "knights" and female members as "ladies companions."

Members of the royal family are also members of the order, which traditionally includes the monarch's spouse, children and cousins. 2023 marked the first Garter Day celebrations of King Charles III's reign. He was joined at the traditional church service held at St. George's Chapel by Queen Camilla and Prince William among other members of his family.

William was made a Garter knight in 2008. The honor was timed specially by the prince's grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, so that she could invest her grandson as the order's thousandth member.

At the time, William was dating Kate Middleton who, though she would not become engaged until 2010, was invited to watch the Garter Day ceremonies as William's special guest.

As the prince processed to St. George's Chapel wearing the traditional Garter robes, Kate burst into a smile and laughter with Prince Harry whom she stood next to, which was noted by the media.

After William and Kate married in 2011 and the princess began attending the Garter Day service regularly, the media and fans eagerly anticipated the moment William would look to his wife during the procession, after which they would each time break into a joking smile.

Uploaded to TikTok by user, l0velycatherine, on June 20, following the 2023 Garter celebrations the previous day, an edited clip shows William and Kate's smiling moments in 2014 and 2023.

Captioned "sure thing," the video has been viewed on the social media platform over 400,000 times so far and received in excess of 36,000 likes and numerous comments, many of which have praised the couple for their closeness.

"She loves her man in the garter robes," wrote one user of Kate.

"The smile is always the same," posted another, with a further comment reading: "They are each other's sure thing."

William and Kate celebrated their 12th wedding anniversary in April and have seen their public roles increase in recent months, as King Charles elevated them from Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (which they were since their marriage in 2011) to the new Prince and Princess of Wales, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022.

With his father's accession, William became first in line to the throne, with Kate one day becoming queen consort. As such, the couple have taken on new military roles, as well as becoming more involved with charities and communities throughout Wales, the country from where their new title is taken.

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.

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