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Body language expert Judi James analysed Harry, William, and Kate’s relationship before the infamous royal rift started to take effect. Before Harry and Meghan moved to America, the four senior royals were often seen together and, before Meghan, the brothers and Kate regularly spent time together too.
Judi went on to say how, with Harry and Kate, William seemed to be able to forget the pressures of his royal duties, and the public saw another side to him.
She said: “William probably never looked happier and more relaxed than when he was with Kate and Harry.
“The balance of the trio relationship seemed to suit him perfectly and it seemed to prove Diana’s desire for Harry to be there for his older brother, who clearly had the weight of destiny on his shoulders and revelled in the shared humour and fun between himself and his wife and brother.
“With Harry and Kate, William got to be spontaneous and show off his fun side, suggesting high levels of trust that allowed him to drop some of the more formal and cautious side to his behaviour and just have fun as a brother, a partner, and as a friend.
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“Harry might have been emphatic during his promos for Spare about their lives taking different paths after Diana died, but these photos seem to disprove that.
“All three show body language signs of a deep, sibling-style relationship.”
Looking at specific photos around 2016 and 2017, Judi claimed: “Kate has since taken the role of supporter and wing-woman in her husband’s life, but here there appears to have been no need to boost his confidence and his mood, meaning Kate’s open-mouthed laughs suggest she is feeding off the shared humour and affection between the brothers, rather than promoting or motivating it.
“The only signs of incongruence here comes from suppression rather than performance signals,” the body language expert added.
“Rather than performing social smiles and signals of good-humour to create a good impression to the royal fans, the small puckering visible around William and Harry’s lips suggest they are attempting to suppress their laughter and playfulness to sustain a good impression.”
However, as the years went on “the rifts started to show”, meaning the senior royals’ expressions began to look completely different while they posed for photos together.
“Smiles look forced and fake,” Judi said. “There is no longer any need to suppress a shared sense of humour because the disconnect between the brothers is occurring.
“The touch rituals, where William, Kate and Harry would stand with their arms around one another in a signal of being a strongly-bonded team, have gone – partly out of necessity as the outings as a foursome are more formal here, but there is a non-verbal underlining of the lack of desire to touch or connect as they stand with hands clasped in front of their torsos in a barrier ritual.”
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“The walk to church on Christmas Day was a sadly acted ritual aimed at showing the press and public that there were no rifts, even though there clearly were.
“The brothers might be walking in some kind of a line, but they are also ignoring each other, with no subliminal mirroring or signals of shared humour visible.
“Kate moves across to talk to Meghan but, again, the smiles are now of the social, polite type only.
Judi added that “the third stage was one of almost total disconnection”.
“After the Queen’s death the four did emerge in a shock appearance together,” she noted, referring to September 10, when the royals greeted crowds outside Windsor Castle.
“But, with the rifts made public and therefore little need to mask, they were there as two couples with Harry and Meghan tending to walk behind William and Kate and only some cursory communication between the four of them.”
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