Kate Middleton & Prince William Held Hands in the Bahamas: TikTok – Marie Claire

The times, they are a-changing.

Where Kate Middleton and Prince William were once rarely seen being expressly affectionate with each other in public, images of them sharing loving gestures have become more commonplace in recent yearsthough not so commonplace that those moments aren't still newsworthy.

There's probably a case to be made for this being a deliberate choice, one that increases the Cambridges' relatability factor as their roles in the royal family evolve, though I'm not particularly qualified to make that case.

Back to the matter at hand: the matter of their holding hands on camera during their recent Caribbean tour (see what I did there?).

TikTok user Jimmy Rex was staying at the royal couple's hotel in the Bahamas when he spotted them in the lobby and captured a video. When posting the footage to the social media platform, he titled it the tongue-in-cheek, "Must be important people, 35 security guards with them at my hotel!" The hashtags he used in his caption confirmed that he knew perfectly well who they were, and was in fact making a joke.

In the video, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (in the yellow dress she wore on her last night in the Bahamas) are seen holding hands as they walk (presumably) out of the hotel, trailed by said security guards.

Rex calls out to them, "How you doin'?" to which the duke responds, "Hello!" The content creator then tells the duchess, "You look beautiful." She tells him, "Have a great holiday," and he returns the sentiment.

(Image credit: Photo by Pool / Getty Images)

Back in 2016, royal etiquette expert Myka Meier explained to People why the Cambridges rarely held hands in public at the time (though it does sort of still stand these days). "The likely reasoning is more that while traveling on a tour such as the India trip, technically the couple are working representatives of British Monarchy," she said. "The couple are likely to show very little PDA, if any, to remain professional during their designated roles abroad." I mean, fair.

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Kate Middleton & Prince William Held Hands in the Bahamas: TikTok - Marie Claire