Kate Middleton Struggled With 'Inner Tension' During Her First Public Engagement Since Ending Chemotherapy

Kate Middleton attended her first public engagement on Thursday, October 10, after announcing that she had ended her chemotherapy, but the Princess of Wales and Prince William appeared to be in deep thought during the outing.

"Kate's visit involved some familiar body language behaviors , both her own and as a couple with William," body language expert Judi James told an outlet.

According to James, "at first we saw Kate in quieter, listening and empathetic mode" due to the "rather sad" nature of the event, but she gradually "became more animated as she talked."

The Waleses traveled to Southport to meet the families of the three young girls who were stabbed during a Taylor Swift - themed yoga class. While extending their support to the people impacted by the tragedy, William and Kate appeared to be in sync.

James noticed Kate raised "her hands in a series of cupping rituals, sometimes with spiked fingers registering the strength of her emotional input."

"One very sweet, familiar trait is that of intense mirroring between Kate and William," she noted. "This has always been their signature look and it is happily as intense as ever."

The Princess and Prince of Wales were able to find moments of joy while chatting with victims.

"There are times they sit looking completely twinned here, heads cocked at the same angle to listen and hands clasped over their knees. Even their outfits are matching," James noticed. "There is also a moment when that signature 'Kate smile' returns as one of the people they're meeting makes them laugh."

"It's the same wide, perfect smile we've seen Kate do for years, but it's good to see a return of it during one of her first visits since her illness," she added. "There are also a couple of signs of what looks like inner tension."

OK! previously reported the princess has been using her platform to help people battling cancer after completing her treatment. Kate and William met with Liz Hatton — a U.K. teen currently battling a rare form of the disease.

"A pleasure to meet with Liz at Windsor today. A talented young photographer whose creativity and strength has inspired us both," the Prince and Princess of Wales wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"Thank you for sharing your photos and story with us. ❤️," they added.

Liz's mother, Vicky Roboyna , shared her daughter's bucket list on X, which caught William's eye.

"Twitter please can you help by sharing and tagging anyone who might help," Roboyna asked. "Liz is 16 and lives to take photographs. She has a rare and aggressive cancer which doctors have told her means she has between 6 months and 3 years to live," the autism specialist teacher wrote. "We hope every day for a lifetime for her but if we can’t achieve that we hope to create her a lifetime of memories. If we can make even one of her photography bucket list happen for her she will be beyond delighted."

Hatton gushed over the time she spent with William and Kate.

"None of us were really expecting it necessarily — except for my little brother apparently," Hatton told BBC Radio.

“Talking to them was amazing ‘cause it was like talking to anyone, like just a normal person," she added. "There was no sort of grandeur about them, there was just humanity and kindness .”

James spoke to Daily Mail.