Kate Middleton and Prince William's secret way of communicating at huge royal events

The Prince and Princess of Wales have grown in confidence over the years when it comes to public engagements - but they used to rely on a secret way of checking up on each other on official outings

Whenever Prince William and Princess Kate step out, the eyes of the world are on them, with cameras and experts following their every move. As a result, the couple developed a secret method of communicating with each other whilst attending official engagements, according to an expert.

William and Kate first went public with their romance in 2004, and have faced intense scrutiny ever since. Now, married for more than decade and with three children, the couple previously relied on secret communication which allowed them to grow in confidence, according to body-language expert Darron Stanton.

He told Betfair Casino that while Kate has clearly relaxed into her royal role, it was a different story in the beginning. "Kate's confidence has grown dramatically in recent years," Stanton said. "When Kate was first introduced as a public figure, we would see her play with her hair a lot and look to William for support during joint interviews or events.

"We would see this from William too, as they both wanted reassurance from each other. There's a sense they weren't very confident early on and looking into each other's eyes was their way of checking in with each other. They both wanted to feel at ease."

Now, when Kate is out and about, she rarely shows any signs of nerves and hardly ever needs to look to William for reassurance, Stanton noted. "We get a sense she's happy to be there and wants to prove she’s here to get on with her job. She has an inner strength and is very motivated to do the best she can. This is shown through holding her head high, being active in conversations and engaging in strong eye contact with people she’s never met before. Kate didn't have this confidence previously, and the confidence she has is quite subtle.

"It's not too overwhelming, and it's clear her role comes naturally to her. Kate always has strong eye contact with anyone she's communicating with and never comes across as slouched. She rarely crosses her arms either - and that is normally a giveaway of someone feeling out of place with a lack of confidence."

There are other signs too, according to Stanton. "Kate's voice tone and pitch are important too. In early interviews of Kate, her voice is quite low in volume and tone. Her voice is now a lot louder and higher in pitch, which suggests quite a change in her confidence. It's a completely different Kate from before.

"Kate's walking is a lot more confident, too. She doesn't look down at all - she looks straight ahead with her shoulders back. It shows she isn't intimidated by others and is in a good place with herself."