On January 27, Kate Middleton and Prince William attended the special ceremony in London, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. It marked Kate’s first official appearance after announcing that she was in remission from cancer earlier this month.
During the event, the Princess of Wales was seen beaming with joy as she had a heartwarming encounter with Holocaust survivors, Steven Frank and Yvonne Bernstein. Kate told 89-year-old Frank, “I want to give you a big cuddle” before wrapping her arms around him, as per Daily Mail.
Overwhelmed by Kate Middleton’s gesture, Frank couldn’t stop smiling. He thanked her for sending him a Christmas card, and the duo then engaged in a brief conversation about his family. Kate then also offered a warm hug to Bernstein. She then sat with the 87-year-old woman and chatted for a while.
“It’s such a treat for me to see an old friend,” Kate supposedly told Bernstein during their conversation. It was an emotional reunion between Kate and the two holocaust survivors with whom she had previously met at the 75th anniversary of the Auschwitz liberation at Kensington Palace in 2020.
Sharing some heart-warming photos from the ceremony, the official Instagram page of the Prince and Princess of Wales wrote in the caption, “Today we remember the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust, victims of Nazi persecution, as well as the victims of more recent genocides, including Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur.”
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In the pictures, Kate Middleton can be seen holding hands and embracing the survivors with warm hugs.
Philip Mutz, PureWow’s VP of News and Entertainment made a keen observation about Kate’s body language. “When she interacted with certain individuals, she came alive. She was open and smiling and touchy. She’s clearly her most comfortable self when interacting with others,” Mutz said.
However, he pointed out the dramatic shift in Kate Middleton’s body language as she moved to more formal events of the day. While on the one hand, she was seen quite open and happy during the reunion; she became quite reserved during the official ceremony.
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“Her body language appeared understandably nervous and a bit closed off. In picture after picture, she’s holding her hands in front of her body, a sign that she’s not quite comfortable and wants to protect herself,” said Mutz.
He added that the shift in her body language was mainly because of the serious nature of the ceremony. But it’s worth noting how gracefully Kate Middleton carried herself throughout the event and proving why she is the most loved royal.