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The Princess of Wales' friendly exchange with Queen Letizia of Spain has become the focus of a new viral video, after footage of the royal women captured during a Windsor Castle ceremony in 2019 has resurfaced on social media site TikTok.
Since her marriage to Prince William in 2011, Kate has been photographed alongside many of the world's notable royal figures, including Letizia and her husband, King Felipe VI of Spain.
Dynastic matchmaking involving Queen Victoria's nine children and 42 grandchildren means the British royals are related to many of the main European royal houses. Through his grandmother, Queen Ena of Spain (Victoria's granddaughter), Felipe is a distant cousin of King Charles III and Prince William.
The Spanish and British royals have met on several occasions over the years, despite some political tensions between the two nations. In 1981, King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia did not attend Charles' wedding to Princess Diana over the dispute concerning the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, where the royal couple planned to begin their honeymoon aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia.
In 2019, Felipe (who took over the throne from his father in 2014) and Letizia were invited to Britain by Queen Elizabeth II, who took the opportunity to install the king as one of her Knights of the Order of the Garter.
The garter is the oldest chivalric order in Britain and such appointments are made solely at the monarch's discretion. Each year in June, the Garter Day procession and ceremonies take place at Windsor Castle, attended by senior members of the royal family, including Prince William who was installed as the order's 1000th knight in 2008.
After the church service at St. George's Chapel on June 17, 2019, Letizia was accompanied by Kate, who at the time was known as the Duchess of Cambridge.
News cameras covering the event captured a friendly moment between the pair as they boarded their horse-drawn carriage with their husbands to return to Windsor Castle.
Uploaded to TikTok by user, princess__jo, on February 15, the resurfaced footage has now gone viral, gaining over 150,000 views on the social media site so far.
Captioned "Princess Catherine and Queen Letizia ❤️," the clip shows Kate appear to ask the queen if she is OK after taking her seat. The two women were also photographed animatedly chatting at another point in the day's festivities.
The video has received in excess of 3,000 likes and numerous comments, many of which have voiced praise for Kate and Letizia.
"Beautiful and elegant women 💕," wrote one fan.
"Catherine is so natural with people 🥰," posted another, with a further comment reading: "Stunning ladies."
Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano was born in 1972 and began a successful career as a newscaster in Spain, meeting the then-Prince Felipe in the early 2000s.
The couple announced their engagement in 2003 and married in 2004, their wedding being attended by Charles (as Prince of Wales).
They have two daughters, Leonor, Princess of Asturias (born 2005) and Infanta Sofía (born 2007).
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more