Prince William and Kate Middleton were on the Isle of Bute on Thursday doing what is, quite literally, part of their job: meeting members of the public.
Kate seemed perfectly happy to do it. William? Less so.
Video from the September 17 walkabout shows Kate chatting with well-wishers, posing for selfies and taking her time with the people who had come out to see them. William eventually walked over, pointed at his watch and told her: “You’ve got to speed up, you’ve got to get all the way down there before you go.”
Kate appeared to apologise to the people around her as she was encouraged to move along, before continuing to greet the next group.
William stood behind her with that very particular royal smile people deploy when they know cameras are pointed at them, while Kate continued doing the actual meet-and-greet.
And predictably, much of the coverage has decided this was hilarious. Cute, even. William was simply teasing his wife! They are so relatable! Look at their banter!
I watched the same clip and did not come away thinking, “Aww.”
William absolutely DGAF about that woman. You can hear everyone getting uncomfortable as he pushes her to hurry up. How about be a gentleman? What an A-hole. 🙄😬 pic.twitter.com/ee66OxOS8V
— Nico Mac (@Nicomac_666) September 17, 2026
Why Is William Supervising Her Instead of Greeting People?
The weirdest part is not even the watch-tapping. It is that Kate is standing there talking to people while William appears to be hovering behind her telling her how quickly to do it.
Why not stand beside her and greet them too? Their official visit was explicitly about community, volunteering and meeting local residents. The itinerary included Bute Shinty Club, a beach clean-up and the community-owned Anchor Tavern.
So if Kate is engaging enthusiastically with residents, isn’t that the assignment? Instead, William comes across like a manager reminding an employee that her allotted customer-interaction time has expired. And apparently we are meant to find that romantic. Some pro-Wales online commentators interpreted the moment as William joking because Kate enjoys lingering with well-wishers.
But plenty of other viewers saw something much less charming: a husband publicly directing his wife, pointing at his watch and telling her to move along while she was doing the job they both came there to do. I understand why, particularly because this is not the first time William has publicly hurried Kate along.
Prince William gestures with his hand near Kate Middleton as the couple travel by car around the time of the 2017 Royal Variety Performance in London.
This Has Happened Before
The reason the moment landed badly with some viewers is that it is not without precedent. At Crown Prince Hussein and Princess Rajwa’s wedding in Jordan in 2023, Kate stopped to continue talking to the bride after William had finished his own conversation.
Prince William has been caught on camera urging Princess Catherine to ‘wrap up’ her conversation with now-Princess of Jordan, Rajwa Al Saif, while attending the royal wedding.
— 10 News (@10NewsAU) June 2, 2023
The Prince and Princess of Wales were in line formally congratulating the newlyweds. Once William gave… pic.twitter.com/GNjfh5BARY
William was then caught saying “chop chop” and “keep going” while making a circular hand gesture apparently telling Kate to wrap it up. William was then caught saying “chop chop” and “keep going” while making a circular hand gesture, seemingly encouraging Kate to wrap up the conversation. That moment generated criticism at the time too.
So when William taps his watch three years later and tells Kate to speed up while she is talking to members of the public, people are naturally going to remember Jordan. One isolated interaction can mean almost anything. A repeated public habit is more noticeable.
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Kate Was Actually Better at the Job Here
The ironic part is that Kate comes out of the clip looking pretty good. She seemed determined to give people who had waited to see her more than a quick royal wave.
Even People, while treating William’s intervention humorously, acknowledged that Kate has a longstanding tendency to linger during walkabouts because she spends time talking to people.
Isn’t that supposed to be the point? Royalists constantly tell us the monarchy earns its keep through these magical moments of connection with ordinary people.
Then Kate actually connects with ordinary people and her husband appears behind her pointing at his watch. I don’t know what William and Kate’s marriage is like when there are no cameras around. But I do know that if if my public role that afternoon involved meeting residents on a Scottish island, I probably would not stand behind my wife telling her to hurry up while she was meeting them. And I definitely wouldn’t expect everyone watching to call it cute.
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Dial and smile 😁 is the remit so why is his royal nibs , policing his wife in public, again? He comes across as annoyed, chivvying her along and actually pointing at his watch? This is their first visit here, shouldn’t he be pleased at people taking the time to turn up to see them?
Age of deference is dead, Will should appreciate it when people show up to see him and his wife.
One wonders if he’s jealous of the attention she’s getting here? Why is SHE holding me up?
.
His attitude is of course boorish. However, for having been present 7 times at such royal events with various Windsor members, I’ve learned that they last 20 minutes after which time, the royal/s leave/s. They Windsors are all rude&don’t care about their subjects, hence William’s attitude.
I repeat,
Vive La République,
they have the right idea.
Well, Historyn, in other circumstances, or when it comes to other people, I might agree with you, but not when it comes to Middleton.
Yes, William is a boor and can’t behave himself, but Kate isn’t any better. They hate each other, can’t stand each other and can’t hide it. It’s as if, to make up for having to appear together in public, they spare no effort in being spiteful towards one another. Kate takes the lead in public, at galas and in front of the cameras, repeatedly slapping William on the bum, deliberately exposing her own, or deviating from the set itinerary for a visit. The clips featuring her are edited so as not to reveal or let you hear too much, but occasionally, just before they’re cut away, wide shots of her ‘conversations’ are caught – and it’s just her one-sided rambling; and given her artificial accent, slurred speech and trouble stringing a single sentence together, it’s better not to know what she actually came out with. She’s pulling this stunt yet again, and because not only is William waiting for her, but so are the organisers, as they’ve probably got the next part of the visit planned.
No one but William will point out to her that they’re being kept waiting elsewhere. Kate is deliberately trying to annoy William and getting her own back for being banned from many public appearances and it shows.
The example of the wedding in Jordan only confirms what I wrote above. William wasn’t exactly discreet—he’s incapable of it—but with Kate, it’s impossible anyway; she doesn’t take the hint, and sometimes even acts out of spite. Kate cares about no one and nothing but herself; Kate is all about promoting Kate. The line of people waiting to offer congratulations to the newlyweds was huge, as seen in many videos. Everyone else would approach, offer their wishes, exchange a few words, and move on to make room for the next person—but not Kate. Once she got hold of Princess Rajwa, she just kept chattering away, not letting the princess get a word in edgewise, while the people in line—and the bride and groom—grew restless; after all, the couple had to stand there for an hour or more to receive everyone’s well-wishes. William tried to signal her at first, but she wouldn’t stop talking, so he had to be more blunt. It didn’t look very graceful, but Kate certainly wouldn’t have stopped on her own anytime soon. A boorish girl and a loutish aristocrat—they’re a perfect match.
Reactions to William and Kate’s PR image management hastily arranged jaunt to the Isle of Bute (Scotland). The woeful interactions between this duo and Kate’s camera ready grinning and hugging people was crazy and performative.