Princess Kate Apparently Has a \201cBone Crusher Handshake\201d

The Princess of Wales is more confident than ever and is undertaking more solo royal engagements than ever before—including, this past Sunday, appearing alone at the Rugby World Cup in Marseille, France, where she watched England defeat Fiji. (Kate is patron of England’s Rugby Football Union and Rugby Football League.)

After England defeated Fiji 27-10, Kate made a surprise appearance after the game in the England rugby team’s locker room, where “she appeared unfazed by the post-game scene in the locker room,” People reports. “She shook hands with players in their dirt- and grass-stained uniforms, some even standing without shoes in their socks during the visit. Kate even stood near a pair of muddy cleats on the locker room floor.” Photos show her smiling and clapping along with players Maro Itoje and Ollie Chessum, “looking pristine in a white double-breasted tweed blazer and a pair of wide-leg black pants, compared to the teammates,” People writes. In another photo, Kate smiled as she shook hands and placed a congratulatory hand on Manu Tuilagi’s shoulder.

Per The Daily Express, Kate greeted players with a “fantastic handshake,” said body language expert Darren Stanton. “There’s a fantastic picture of Kate in the dressing room, where she’s shaking the hands of the rugby players,” he said. “If you zoom in on that you can see it’s a real bone crusher handshake, which is in a positive sense. It’s not a weak handshake. She’s got a really good grip.”

Of her body language, Stanton continued that Kate “went on to place her right hand on one of the rugby players. This is normally seen as a power gesture, but we know Kate isn’t like it. It’s a general gesture of respect and rapport from her towards the other person.”

Another gesture also caught Stanton’s eye, and he remarked on when Kate “also placed her left hand on the top of his arm, which is her way of saying she is genuinely happy to meet him,” he said. “The rugby player appeared a little bit overwhelmed.”

Stanton noted specifically Kate’s change in confidence over the years since becoming a working royal in 2011, emerging from someone who used to be “pretty quiet” during royal duties to someone who owns any room she enters. “In terms of how she walks, she walks with a swagger,” he said. “In some context, that could mean arrogance, but not with her. It shows confidence, and she doesn’t look back at who is with her.”