The Princess of Wales counted on the support of the Duchess of Edinburgh as she attended one of the most poignant events of the year.

Kate made a rare appearance at the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph – a sign of both her gradual return to duties following her cancer diagnosis – and watched the wreath-laying ceremony from the balcony of the Foreign Office. In the absence of Queen Camilla, who was recuperating at home with a chest infection, Kate, a future queen consort herself, was due to take to the central balcony alone. But Sophie was switched from her originally planned position with the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester on a neighbouring balcony to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Kate in support.

Kate chatted with and smiled at Sophie at the start of the proceedings. And a lip reader believes she has uncovered what the pair were saying to each other. Lip reader Kayleigh Harris told The Sun that Kate said to Sophie: “She will be supported in this.” And Sophie replied: “Yes, and especially…” It remains unclear who the two royals were referring to.

It comes after a body language expert also said that Sophie sent a secret message to Prince William with a touching gesture towards Kate. As the two royal ladies retreated from the balcony at the ceremony’s close, Sophie was seen to place her gloved hand on Kate’s back in a comforting gesture.

Body language expert Judi James explained to the Mirror: “Sophie was clearly in the role of temporary stand-in for William. She chatted to Kate on the balcony as the two women stood side-by-side and despite Kate’s impeccable appearance of confidence as she stood in the spot that used to belong to the late Queen, Sophie appeared to be keeping a watchful eye over her as Anne has clearly been keeping over brother Charles.

“It was the small touch or even pat on the back as Kate walked ahead inside the building that seemed to not only offer a form of maternal affection, caring and reassurance or even congratulation to her niece-in-law, but it also looked like the visible proof to William that Kate is in very safe and caring royal hands when he is not there by her side.

During the service today, Kate wore three red poppies, often rumoured to be in honour of her great-grandmother’s three brothers, who all lost their lives in the First World War.

Her diamond and pearl drop earrings belonged to the late Queen, and she also wore her silver Queen’s Dragoon Guards brooch – in a nod to her role as the regiment’s Colonel-in-Chief – beneath her poppies. The princess made her first ever appearance at the service as the Duchess of Cambridge 13 years ago, seven months after she married William, joining the royal family and becoming an HRH.

She was pictured in 2011 in a black double-breasted coat by Diane von Furstenberg and a small-brimmed hat with a large bow by couture milliner Jane Corbett. Kate has attended every year since, including 2020 when she took to the balcony, standing socially distanced from Camilla, during the Covid pandemic when the increasingly frail late Elizabeth II missed the service due to a sprained back.