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As university sweethearts who met at Scotland's St Andrew's University in 2001, Prince William and Kate Middleton's fairytale love story captured the nation's hearts.
Despite a brief period of separation in 2007, cupid's arrow was aquiver and culminated in a magical Royal wedding held at London's Westminster Abbey in 2011.
But following their nuptials, while the Prince and Princess of Wales often spoken fondly about their undeniable love and support for one another, they rarely exchanged loving physical gestures in public.
Instead, eagle-eyed onlookers have noted an abundance of subtle tender moments shared between the pair over the years, perhaps most poignantly seen during the Earthshot Prize awards ceremony held in Boston in late 2022.
The Royal couple, who had arrived in the US a few days prior, attended the glitzy ceremony to hand out awards for their Earthshot Prize, set up by William himself to recognise and scale up innovative environmental ideas.
In a remarkable display of affection, a video captured at the highly anticipated event showcased the heartwarming moment William placed a tender hand on Kate's back as she slowly settled into her seat ahead of the ceremony.
According to body language expert Judi James, this tactile communication method was synonymous with 'flirt signals' and indicated the pair were in 'mutual appreciation mode'.
Discussing the 'powerful' gesture, Ms James told The Daily Mail: 'Their touches in public have always been a quietly flowing narrative of mutual affection and support while their subliminally prompted mirroring signals as they pose and move with seamless synchronicity and effortless choreography explains how like-minded they are'.
Ms James adds that Kate and William tend to avoid 'public information broadcast' rituals such as the eternal hand-holding favoured by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, remarking that the Prince and Princess of Wales 'always scrub up sublimely'
Indeed, during their short-lived tenure as working Royals, Harry and Meghan became known for their tactile hand holding, often perceived as a tender sign of comfort amid their ongoing turmoil as members of the Firm.
Yet for Harry's estranged brother and sister-in-law, public displays of affection (PDA) are a much less common occurrence.
Instead, as Ms James highlights, the Wales's 'seem to adore keeping their intensity under wraps rather than using it as a billboard'.
But the brief moment their private love was publicly displayed offered an authentic insight into the true nature of their relationship behind closed doors.
Analysing the intricacies of their body language in that moment, Ms James suggests that William's hand placement 'could be a quick signal of approval for her speech or a steering gesture to ensure she sits elegantly'.
She notes that once Kate has settled into her seat, William 'keeps his hand in place', with his once-firm touch then becoming a 'stroke' followed by an 'all's well gentle rub' as he simultaneously 'turns his head right around to give Kate undivided eye-attention as he speaks to her'.
William's comforting gesture to Kate may indeed have been due to an abundance of controversies that had overshadowed the days leading up to the event, including a furious race row and a scandalous Netflix documentary trailer by Harry and Meghan.
Before the couple had even touched down in the US, a furious race row had erupted in the UK after the Prince's own godmother, Lady Susan Hussey, who also served as the late Queen's right-hand woman for 62 years.
Lady Susan Hussey faced accusations of making racist comments to black domestic abuse campaigner Ngozi Fulani at a Buckingham Palace event.
As William and Kate were mid-flight, their Kensington Palace spokesperson issued a statement condemning the 'unacceptable' comments made by Lady Hussey - who resigned from her role in the royal household.
However, the controversy undoubtedly cast a bleak shadow over what was meant to be a 'Super Bowl' moment for the Prince.
Then, during the the first full day of their tour, Prince Harry and Meghan dropped a trailer for the bombshell Netflix documentary.
Hinting at fresh attacks on the Monarchy, it was described by Palace insiders as a 'declaration of war' on the Waleses and the Royal Family, while also dispelling any hopes that the Sussexes may have been working towards a resolution amid the ensuing conflict with the Firm.
But ever the professionals, Kate and William pushed ahead with their US tour and donned bright smiles as they walked the green carpet at the high-profile event.
Yet once they had taken their seats, the pair's rare public gestures of affection may have been a slight glimpse into the anxieties prevailing behind the scenes, with Ms James noting that both William and Kate used 'an almost equal amount of subtle tie sign touches'.
Indeed, perhaps indicative of the importance the event went well given the ensuing controversies, Ms James suggests that the subtle hand gesture acted as a 'silent compliment' to Kate from her husband.
But, rather than being pre-planned, she adds that William's unusual tie-sign or non-verbal expression of love was both 'spontaneous and important', serving as an integral part of 'a private narrative between himself and his wife'.
During the ceremony, Kate and William were sat among key activists, innovators, policy makers and performers who had all gathered to celebrate the world's up-and-coming environmental figures.
And in keeping with the evening's theme, the Princess donned a rented dress from a brand called Solace London, which the Royal obtained from online designer rental platform HURR - which charges between $91 (£74) and $238 (£194) to loan the gown.
Meanwhile, her dazzling art deco choker - which is believed to be worth more than $15 million - was gifted to Diana by the Queen, who herself inherited it from her grandmother Queen Mary.
Ultimately, the short but sweet moment shared between the Prince and Princess of Wales five years ago was to be remarkably indicative of what was to come.
Following the heartbreaking announcement of Kate's cancer diagnosis last year, the world began to witness an entirely different and seemingly more tactile side to the Royal couple.
As Kate embarked on her long road to recovery, and perhaps in a stark show of solidarity as a united pair, over the course of the last 18 months the couple's loving side has been showcased like never before.
Seemingly no longer fearful of PDA, when the Prince and Princess have stepped out for numerous Royal engagements, an increasing number of highly affectionate and tender moments have been captured between the two.
But for Ms James, their united body language at the Earthshot Awards signified a strong pre-existent bond between the pair, adding that it merely 'endorses the rituals of deep love and adoration we saw in Kate's video update about her cancer'.
In September 2024 following months outside of the spotlight since the Princess' cancer diagnosis emerged, Kensington Palace released the touching video of the pair and their three children, George, Charlotte and Louis.
It made for an unprecedented piece of deeply personal footage, showing an intimate portrait of the Wales family like never seen before.
At the centre of the video was a sweet show of affection between the couple as the pair even shared two kisses, despite this being something of a rarity, with the exception of their high-profile wedding kiss.
While rarely visible in the public domain, Ms James believes that the tender feelings shared between the pair never wavered, but were merely strengthened as the couple transformed from university sweethearts to the Royal couple of the decade.
Explaining the poignancy of the heartwarming Earthshot moment, she adds: 'It proves how what we were being shown about their love for each other in that video was the actual iceberg, and how the tip of that iceberg had been subtly hiding in plain sight for more than a decade'.
The Earthshot Prize was awarded to five winners: Mukuru Clean Stoves (Kenya) for Clean Our Air, Kheyti (India) for Protect & Restore Nature, Indigenous Women of the Great Barrier Reef (Australia) for Revive Our Oceans, Notpla (UK) for Build a Waste-free World, and 44.01 (Oman) for Fix Our Climate.
Indicative of his incredible commitment to the prize, which he founded in 2020 alongside Sir David Attenborough, the Prince of Wales spoke poignantly during the ceremony about the importance of finding innovative solutions to the harmful effects of climate change.
He said: 'I believe that the Earthshot solutions you have seen this evening prove we can overcome our planet's greatest challenges.
'And by supporting and scaling them we can change our future.
'Alongside tonight's winners and finalists, and those to be discovered over the years to come, it's my hope the Earthshot legacy will continue to grow, helping our communities and our planet to thrive.'
Ending the evening with a note of optimism, the Prince concluded: 'In the same way the space effort six decades ago created jobs, boosted economies, and provided hope, so too can the solutions borne of tonight's Earthshot Prize winners.
'The decisions we make now will affect generations to come, which is why we must choose the path of hope, optimism, and urgency to repair our planet.'
Then, meeting the finalists for the first time at the Earthshot Prize Fellowship Retreat at Windsor Great Park the following January, he praised the innovators for their 'unbelievable' work.
Yet while the 2022 awards will be undoubtedly remembered for its inspiring finalists and crucial cause, one can't help but reflect on the poignancy of the rare tender moment shared between the Prince and Princess during a rather tumultuous tour.
In the years following, as the Royal Family's sense of stability has been routinely rocked, the couple's mutual love and support has never wavered, with the pair providing subtle signs of assurance when needed most.