Royals and celebrities warned to watch words as lip-reading videos go viral | Monarchy
Royals and celebrities are being warned by their representatives and advisors to be careful what they say when they’re outside their homes – or palaces; because the lip-reading phenomenon means videos can be posted online and translated in seconds.
Prince William was thrown into confusion when a recent video of him speaking to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was translated by an expert lip reader working as part of the upcoming Royals’ Lip Reading documentary on Channel 5.
The video allegedly shows Mountbatten-Windsor trying to apologize to her nephew, according to the lip reader. Mountbatten-Windsor is alleged to have said: “I have learned from my actions but before I forget and if I can, I would like to ask if you can forgive.” This was met with silence.
The disgraced royal gave up her royal titles in October after new information emerged about her links to late financier and child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The documentary also claims King Charles said “fuck me” while getting into the royal car and Princess Anne gossiped about the Duchess of Sussex.
The rise of lip reading has greatly disturbed the royal family. A royal source told the Guardian: “Like many high-profile individuals, members of the royal family are aware, to varying degrees of inadvertence, of the unfortunate and growing trend of using lip readers to eavesdrop on conversations about which everyone is entitled to private consideration.”
Queen Elizabeth II for ten years. Dickie Arbiter, who served as Elizabeth’s press secretary, said royals were warned about speaking at unprotected moments that could be recorded by TV cameras or members of the public on mobile phones.
“Man has always been aware of this, and even in my time there were experts who claimed to be able to read lips,” he told the Guardian.
“Sometimes they would come up with some nasty things. The member of the royal family in question often wouldn’t remember if that was really what they were saying, because they were talking to so many people when they were out for a ride.”
Paddy Harverson, former communications director for the Duke of Cornwall, now King Charles, said the widespread phenomenon of lip-reading was a fairly new phenomenon. “I left the palace 13 years ago and thankfully lip-reading was not a big deal in my time,” he said.
Arbiter, who appears in the documentary, said the rise of social media has exacerbated the problem. “Whether it’s true or not, things get cut and spread around,” he said. “Social media is a dump, but we are all in it, right?”
He added that he warns the royals he works with to keep conversation appropriate during walks as they move around mingling with the public. “I said: Don’t say anything stupid that might appear in print while you’re browsing,” he said. “And lip-reading is a craft that a lot of people have. I actually did it once during Prince William and Catherine’s wedding; when they got in the car, Catherine obviously turned to him and said: ‘Are you happy?'”
Conversations around the tables at the Golden Globes and other celebrity events are often a bit private; Although they are being filmed, the stars do not wear microphones. But the resulting videos are ripe for lip readers to translate and post on social media platforms, including TikTok.
Some conversations are vulgar; A. last video This video, which has reached 1 million views on TikTok, shows reality TV star Kylie Jenner apparently complaining to actor Jennifer Lawrence at the recent Golden Globes that she was coughing and had a fever around someone and that it could make her sick.
Others are more problematic. A 2024 video from the Golden Globes apparently showed While singer Selena Gomez complained about wanting to take a photo with Timothée Chalamet, her husband Jenner apparently said “no.” Private, impromptu moments were also captured and apparently deciphered by lip readers.
A TikTok video watched more than 5 million times claims to show singer Olivia Rodrigo talks to actor Iris Apatow about a guy she texted at a Los Angeles Lakers game. Actors Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, who divorced in 2025 filmed having things that resemble debates at fancy events.
Celebrity agents warn their clients to assume that everything they say while out and about may be filmed and lip-read.
Andy May, director of media agency JHM, said: “Yes, we are certainly talking to our clients about this and have been for some time. The nature of the advice has evolved over time.”
He said celebrities used to be able to enjoy unprotected moments away from microphones, but now they have to be careful about what they say in public.
May said: “Twenty years ago, the golden rule was clear: be careful with microphones and broadcast cameras. This covered most of the risk. Today, the advice is categorically different; assume cameras are always working. Every phone call in every sports stadium and every post-match walk is a potential broadcast. As in everyday life, even when ‘off duty’. Everyone is now a content creator and all footage always finds an audience.”
“In an ideal world, a talent agent would never need to teach a client how to be a good person. But understandably, everyone has an off day, and the difference now is that an off day can travel around the world in minutes.”
