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Princess Anne refuses to kiss Kate Middleton during awkward greeting - here's why

Home> News> Royal Family

Updated 09:34 10 Mar 2026 GMTPublished 08:46 10 Mar 2026 GMT

Princess Anne refuses to kiss Kate Middleton during awkward greeting - here's why

Prince William was caught by a lip reader making a cryptic comment to Anne at the same event

Poppy Bilderbeck

Poppy Bilderbeck

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Featured Image Credit: Rasid Necati Aslim/Anadolu via Getty Images

Topics: Royal Family, UK News, Fashion, Instagram, Social Media

Poppy Bilderbeck
Poppy Bilderbeck

Poppy Bilderbeck is a Senior Journalist at LADbible Group. She graduated from The University of Manchester in 2021 with a First in English Literature and Drama, where alongside her studies she was Editor-in-Chief of The Tab Manchester. Poppy is most comfortable when chatting about all things mental health, is proving a drama degree is far from useless by watching and reviewing as many TV shows and films as possible and is such a crisp fanatic the office has been forced to release them in batches.

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Princess Anne has been praised online for her 'great sense of humour' after she and Princess Kate swerved greeting one another with a kiss at the Commonwealth Day service.

Yesterday (9 March), members of the royal family gathered together at Westminster Abbey to mark Commonwealth Day.

A special service is held at the abbey every year to recognise the unity and diversity of a family of nations - the event having been held since the 1970s.

A video from the service shared online by Daily Mail Royal Editor Rebecca English shows Prince William and Princess Kate arriving and greeting other members of the Royal family, including Princess Anne.

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Prince William can be seen going straight up to Princess Anne, taking her shoulders and delivering two polite kisses to either cheek. However, as Princess Kate approaches, Princess Anne seems to blow an air kiss before drawing back slightly, Kate offering a warm squeeze to her arm instead, before the pair descend into laughter.

As English, captioned: "There was no way Princess Anne was going to attempt a kiss under a hat like the Princess of Wales." But why?

The pair appeared to joke about the fashion dilemma (Aaron Chown / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)
The pair appeared to joke about the fashion dilemma (Aaron Chown / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

Well, the pair seemed to quickly realise the likelihood of a clash of their hats wasn’t worth the risk.

Wearing a navy coat, heels, and a multi-layered string of pearls with matching earrings, Princess Kate also donned a smart, but rather wide hat. Princess Anne wore a dark green coat and smaller hat, sat more tightly on her head and positioned towards the back. However, given how many bobby pins it must’ve taken to secure the hats in such perfect position, it certainly wasn’t worth the risk.

And it hasn’t taken long for other social media users to weigh in online too.

As another Instagram user said: "Hi.lar.i.ous!! Princess C is always impeccably dressed and appears to have a great sense of humor. Unlike Melania, who wears ridiculous hats to hide her lack of interest in anything."

"Such dignity, respect, honor and care displayed by Prince William and Princess Catherine! They are such wonderful role models!!!" another added.

It comes as lip reader Jeremy Freeman claimed Prince William made a cryptic comment to Princess Anne at the Commonwealth Day service.

The ceremony marked the largest gathering of members of the royal family since Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's arrest (Aaron Chown / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)
The ceremony marked the largest gathering of members of the royal family since Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's arrest (Aaron Chown / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

He told the Mirror, that Anne made a remark to William with her back to the camera, to which William responded: “I agree, of course, that’s another conversation.”

What's more, William was seen covering his mouth afterwards, as if conscious any further comments may be decoded by lip readers.

The service saw the biggest joining of royal family members since the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor last month.

Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested at his home in Sandringham in February on suspicion of misconduct in a public office.

Shortly after, his daughter Princess Eugenie officially stepped down as a patron of the UK charity Anti-Slavery International.

The royal daughter of Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson worked with the world’s oldest human rights organisation for seven years and was a vocal campaigner for victims of modern slavery and trafficking.

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