When you see all the senior members of the Royal Family standing together up there on the Buckingham Palace balcony, it can be easy to view them as the Prince of X and the Duchess of Y, but of course they're also a family like every other family in many ways.
Prince William and Duchess Sophie just beautifully demonstrated this during a joint appearance this week.
The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Edinburgh — a somewhat unusual pairing for an official visit — joined forces to attend the premiere of the documentary Rhino Man, which was hosted by United for Wildlife, which William founded in 2014.
While meeting some of the hosts, William said: "Nice to see you," before introducing Sophie by saying simply: "This is my aunt."
While this wouldn't be a particularly noteworthy interaction if it involved non-royals, onlookers loved seeing how down-to-earth William and Sophie's relationship seems.
A royal watcher shared footage of the short moment on Twitter, writing: "This is sweet.
"Prince William introduced The Duchess of Edinburgh as his aunt, at yesterday’s event.
"William: 'this is my aunt.'"
They added: "And before anyone says anything, the sweet thing about this is that I think it's the first time we've heard him refer to her that way, at least the first time for me."
One person commented: "She’s not a duchess to him, she’s his aunt, she’s his family. I love it"
Another person said: "Something wholesome about this engagement and I can’t correctly explain what!!"
This is sweet. Prince William introduced The Duchess of Edinburgh as his aunt, at yesterday’s event.William: ‘this is my aunt.” pic.twitter.com/MQUX1urlX9June 14, 2023
Rhino Man follows the real-life stories of a group of men who dedicated their life's work to protecting wildlife in South Africa. One of these men, Anton Mzimba, was tragically murdered by wildlife traffickers.
"The murder of Anton Mzimba is a stark reminder of the daily dangers that all rangers face around the world protecting the natural world from the international criminal organisations that seek to profit illegally from wildlife and I’m proud to see his life and legacy recognised in Rhino Man," William said during the event, as reported by Hello!.
