The bulk of Princess Kate's work as a royal revolves around early years development—something she's done in parallel with parenting young children.
As a parent and a campaigner, the Princess of Wales has therefore developed a ton of effective tricks for ensuring her children don't move around too much during solemn official events—especially the cheeky (and youngest) Prince Louis.
Explaining how she does it, body language expert Judi James told Express that Kate "tends to project calm at some of the most nerve-wracking royal events," which in turn may help five-year-old Louis stay calm as well.
Commenting on Prince Louis' latest appearance on the Buckingham Palace balcony, at the Coronation, James said, "Kate seems to be adept at using calming touch rituals to nudge Louis into being less playful when necessary but without appearing to tell him off."
While this can be an effective method to a point, James warns it can also "lead to an escalation to tears or even tantrums." Thankfully for the mom of three, that didn't happen on May 6.
Instead, Kate remained connected to her youngest son with "small, regular tie-signs like the back touching [which] allowed Prince Louis to feel quite free but also reminded him to keep calm."
For the expert, the Waleses' short affectionate touches are combined "with reward touches, patting or stroking heads too when their children have been particularly well behaved."
James believes this is a positive strategy: "Encouraging good behavior is often a more effective motivator than reprimanding any naughtiness," she said.
And besides, Louis' older sister Princess Charlotte is usually on hand to make sure he follows royal protocol as well. These kids are too cute.
