Kate and Sophie are ‘best friends’ in the Royal Family, claims expert

Body language expert Judi James claimed that Princess Kate has a “strong bond” with another member of the Royal Family.

Kate and Duchess Sophie often attend royal engagements together, especially since they received the new titles of Princess of Wales and Duchess of Edinburgh.

The pair are usually spotted chatting and laughing with suggests they are really close, having known each other for more than 12 years.

They both stepped out together at Royal Ascot and the body language guru observed that Kate was “unusually animated and playful”.

Judi claimed that the Princess of Wales is normally less animated at “formally-dressed royal occasions”.

Even at casual events, the Princess “normally reserves reveals of her fun side for body language moments with her husband”.

However, when watching the races at Ascot, “Kate and Sophie’s faces light up when they met and Kate seemed to use a delighted smile of amused friendship as they chatted together”.

Judi commented that Kate has “always shown strong bonding with Sophie but watching the pair at Ascot might just have cemented them as ‘best friends’ in the Royal Family”.

Kate and Sophie performed similar body language “mirroring each other” and “their tie signs suggest shared inner humour,” according to the expert.

Judi continued: “This is almost the first time we have seen Kate using a rather jolly thumbs-up gesture in public.

“Kate seemed to have been picking up on some of her son Louis’s playful public traits at Ascot.