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The news that the Queen has given Prince William a new role comes soon after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey on March 7. Prince Harry has also received a new role, but not from the Royal Family. He is to become chief impact officer at US coaching firm BetterUp.
Body language expert Judi James spoke exclusively with Express.co.uk to give her analysis on the Queen and Prince William’s relationship.
Judi claimed Her Majesty appointing this new role to the Duke of Cambridge should “tell us a lot about the professional relationship between the head of The Firm and her second-in-line successor”.
“In the wake of the Oprah interview and all the claims and charges lobbed against what appears to have become the UK branch of the royal family, this gesture will appear to be The Queen signalling total faith and trust in the Duke of Cambridge,” Judi added.
But what about the Queen and William’s personal relationship, as grandmother and grandson?
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Although they have not been able to go to many royal engagements together this year due to the pandemic, the Queen and the Duke of Cambridge have been seen together on many occasions in the past.
On these occasions, be it during royal visits or appearances from Buckingham Palace’s balcony, Judi claimed that the Queen and William’s body language often suggests their “strong bond”.
She said: “The Queen and William’s body language signals show a strong bond between them that is constant and unchanging, and which seems to relate as much to their shared destiny as their relationship ties.
“Their emotional states when they are together do look bound up in their constitutional relationship, meaning there will always be a tendency to veer on the side of the formal and respectful,” Judi added.
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The body language expert said that William often seems to be more formal with his grandmother than his cousins.
She said: “Unlike some of the other royals of his generation, William tends to be keen to respect the pecking order signals when he is with his grandmother in public, looking dutiful and even chivalrous in a way that his father always has around the Queen.
“Harry, Zara and some of her other grandchildren can often be more tactile and relaxed, with Harry even using what has looked like some irreverent humour to make his grandmother laugh,” Judi added.
“But William’s poses tend to begin with a core display of respect and even caution, with any moments of shared laughter or affection never really eroding that hint of formality.”
Judi compared William’s body language when he is with the Queen to that of Prince Charles.
She said: “Like his father, William does look rather in awe of the Queen, although unlike his father he is also able to show some openly protective and warmly affectionate traits towards her too.”
Judi commented on a pose that William does often in public, which she called the “fig-leaf” pose.
The body language expert said: “His fig-leaf posing, with his hands clasped tightly in front of his lower torso, becomes more pronounced when he is with the Queen, suggesting some anxiety and keenness to keep a slightly lower and more respectful profile around her.”
Judi continued: “He will also show a desire to protect though, in the way that he often leans his head or his torso towards his grandmother.
“We can see his attentive eye contact and often a steepling of the brows when he listens to her, to register concern.”
The body language expert again compared William’s behaviour when he is with the Queen to that of his brother.
She said: “There are many moments of shared fun between William and his grandmother but, unlike the Queen and Harry, it appears to be the Queen making William laugh, rather than the other way round.
“The Queen’s wide smiles and raised brows show a delight in the company of her grandson but William’s responses suggest he is allowing her to take the lead in the conversations which, again, suggests a sense of his grandmother also being ‘The Boss’.”
Prince William is the second in line to the throne, after his father, Prince Charles, while Prince Harry will no longer return to the Royal Family as a working member.
