Kate Middleton: Royal experts praise her parenting skills
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Prince William and Kate Middleton have made several public appearances so far this year, many of which they have had to meet members of organisations, charities and other new people. As a way of greeting someone, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge extend their hand for a handshake. Jesús Enrique Rosas, also known as the Body Language Guy on YouTube spoke about the differences in handshakes between the royal couple and examined one occasion when they stepped out and greeted members of the public.
Jesús said: “William and Catherine attended the Royal Variety Performance and I couldn’t help but notice a very interesting difference in their handshakes.
“Catherine’s handshakes are mostly in the background, so they are difficult to see.
“In real life, you won’t have the luxury of looking straight at people’s hands in high definition, or rewind what happens, or much fewer watch events in slow motion.
“Most probably, you’ll have to keep track of the body language of more than one person at one, so it helps if you can absorb people’s nonverbal communication as a group, rather than specific details.
“But in this case, I’m going to tell you exactly what you should be paying attention to.”
He continued: “Focus your attention on their eyes and try to spot the difference between them.
“We usually think that the handshake is a greeting that only involves the hands, when in fact the whole body is invested in the process.
“You might have noticed a slight difference in the way William approaches [people] and the way Catherine does.
“To be more specific, William looks intently at the hand of the people he’s about to greet, while Catherine just gives a quick look, and sometimes goes for the handshake without even looking at the other person’s hand.”
The Body Language Guy added: “Now there’s something that has to be said about handshakes, and it’s that you can decipher a lot of someone’s personality just by how they execute this greeting.
It depends on the movement, on the pressure, the kind of eye contact, but a handshake is basically your character’s business card.
“But in this case, we are focusing on their eyes – the eye contact previous to the gesture itself.
“In the case of William, what does it mean? In William’s case, what does it mean to look intently at the other person’s hand?
“Well, there’s no way you can see the other person’s hand without lowering your gaze for a split second.
“You have to shift your eyes down and at the same time lowering your gaze is making a slight deference to the other person.”
He then explained: “The other option is what Catherine does; she just takes a quick look at the person’s hand or in some instances, she doesn’t look at the person’s hand at all which means that she goes for the handshake without lowering her gaze or breaking eye contact at any point.
“This version is more powerful and in some scenarios intimidating – but Catherine is not intimidating because she’s got her genuine and warm smile. But her handshake is one of power.”
As for why William looks down when going for a handshake, the expert revealed: “I think he wants to purposefully, give this feeling of deference. There’s also the fact that he’s quite tall, so this can be a way of not looking that intimidating.
“In fact, there is another characteristic between the Cambridge’s handshake, that is the head nod.
“Not everyone nods when going for a handshake – in general, that can be a matter of personal preference – but if you can get used to it, nodding when shaking hands is a nice addition to the greeting.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/PLSOHIDjMAo
William looks intently while Kate gives a quick look.
Jesús Enrique Rosa
“That is a signal to acknowledge the other person and notice that both William and Catherine have a different approach to it.
“William does a single nod, which is quite strong, while Catherine does two or three quick nods.
“This case, it is William’s nod that is more powerful and that is a way you can balance your style with body language to have an interesting handshake, which is equal parts warm and powerful.
“There is something that is important to remember here; it’s not that one handshake is better than the other, or that one of them is wrong, or there is a correct form that you have to follow,” Jesús added.
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