NEED TO KNOW

  • Kate Middleton and Princess Rajwa of Jordan greeted each other with kisses on the cheek earlier this week
  • The double kiss is popularly called “la bise” in French
  • Princess Kate is known for curtsying to King Charles and receiving curtsies from visitors, but here’s why neither princess did the dip

Kate Middleton and Princess Rajwa of Jordan warmly greeted one another with a kiss rather than a curtsy at Windsor Castle.

The Princess of Wales, 43, and the Jordanian princess, 31, met earlier this week with their husbands, and a new video shared to Instagram showed their greeting.

As seen in the clip shared by Crown Prince Hussein‘s official account, Prince William shook the Jordanian heir’s hand and said, “Very nice to see you. How are you?” when they met on Oct. 15.

Princess Kate and Princess Rajwa then greeted one another with a double kiss on the cheek, popularly called “la bise” in French.

“How are you?” Princess Rajwa asked Princess Kate with a smile.

“Very well,” said the Princess of Wales, who underwent treatment for cancer last year and announced in January that she is in remission.

“How’s everything?” Princess Rajwa asked, as they continued talking.

The royal couples then posed for a photo and sat down to chat.

While royals are often greeted with curtsies, the move didn’t break any rules. 

Prince William, Kate Middleton, Crown Prince Hussein and Princess Rajwa at Windsor Castle on Oct. 15, 2025.

Balkis Press/ABACA/Shutterstock

While the British royal family’s website guides that there are “no obligatory codes of behavior” when meeting the monarch or royal family members, Princess Kate is known to curtsy to King Charles and Queen Camilla as a gesture of respect for their senior royal rank. Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, has similarly dropped into deep curtsies when meeting other sovereigns on trips abroad.

It was a reflection of personal preference that Princess Kate didn’t curtsy to Princess Rajwa, as they’re technically contemporaries. Prince William and Crown Prince Hussein are both heirs to their country’s thrones, meaning their wives are both destined to be queens one day.

The Prince and Princess of Wales received the Jordanian royals during Hussein’s working visit to the U.K., and their meeting doubled as a royal reunion. 

Kate Middleton and Prince William at the wedding of Crown Prince Hussein to Rajwa Al Saif in Amman, Jordan on June 1, 2023.

Royal Hashemite Court

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Prince William and Princess Kate were guests at Crown Prince Hussein and Princess Rajwa’s royal wedding in Jordan in June 2023, a trip that took them to the Arab nation where Kate briefly lived as a child for her father’s job at British Airways.

William and Hussein also embarked on a solo outing together later on Wednesday, where the trained helicopter pilots toured RAF Benson in Oxfordshire, William’s former flight squadron.