Left-handed people rejoice; there's royalty among you!
On Saturday morning, King Charles III was officially proclaimed as the new monarch following the Accession Council ceremony.
Overseeing the long-standing tradition was Penny Mourdant, the newly appointed Lord President of the Council of the United Kingdom. Additionally, those in attendance included new UK prime minister Liz Truss, as well as every living former UK PM.
It was a ceremony of historic grandeur, but one particular moment resulted in many left-handed viewers taking to social media to voice their delight.
When it came to signing the proclamation of the new monarch, King Charles III's eldest son and heir apparent Prince William proudly took a pen and offered his signature. That was when many viewers noticed that the 40-year-old new Prince of Wales is actually left-handed.
One overjoyed Twitter user wrote: "PRINCE WILLIAM IS LEFT HANDED EXCUSE ME??? Representation is important x".
A second delighted viewer wrote: "I’m not saying my loyalties are easily won, but Prince William is left handed and now I am a royalist for life."
"Delighted to see Prince William is left handed and holds his pen like me," a third added.
"Ok I might be a fan of Prince William now that he is left-handed he is one of us," another tweeted.
For many people, it was the first time they had realized the prince was left-handed: "Learning a lot about the Royals watching the Accession Council but the thing I’m most fascinated about is discovering that Prince William is left handed."
Another asked: "Ok, who else just discovered that Prince William is left-handed?"
Once Prince William had completed signing the declaration, he was followed by the new Queen Consort, Camilla, Penny Mourdant, and new UK prime minister Liz Truss.
According to CNN, around 10-12% of the population are left-handed.
Ronald Yeo, Ph.D. - a professor of psychology at the University of Texas-Austin - says that although scientists are still unsure why some people are left-handed, they have determined that an individual's genes are responsible about 25% of the time.
However, Yeo also points out that identical twins who share the same genes can also have different dominant hands.
And although being left-handed doesn't come with many benefits, linguist Rik Smits states in his book The Puzzle of Left-Handedness that left-handed athletes can actually have an advantage over their opponents - especially when it comes down to 1-on-1 sports like boxing or tennis.
