Prince William and Kate Middleton are next in line for the throne behind William’s father, King Charles III and his wife, Camilla Parker Bowles. Charles and Camilla stepped into the roles of king and queen after Queen Elizabeth’s death, and her funeral marked the second time Prince Harry and Meghan Markle headed to the United Kingdom in 2022 (the first was for the queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebration).

The body language expressed by William and Kate versus Harry and Meghan was quite different, and while both couples were sad, there were interesting observations between how each one interacted (or didn’t) with their spouse.

Body language expert says Prince William and Kate Middleton were ‘highly distressed’

The days of mourning leading up to Queen Elizabeth’s funeral were full of somber moments, one of which was the queen’s lying-in-state ceremony, which was held a couple of days before her official funeral. At the ceremony, photos of William and Kate clearly show their distressed nature due to the situation == perhaps also the realization that their futures as king and queen were getting much closer.

“It’s evident that Prince William and Princess Kate are feeling highly distressed,” body language expert Katia Loisel told Australia’s 7News when analyzing pictures of the event. “Their slightly lowered heads, use of protective arm barriers, furrowed brows, tension in the neck and mouth and tightly compressed lips indicating [sic] a couple who are trying to hold it all in.”

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Kate and William noticeably did not hold hands while walking to or from the ceremony, which isn’t so unusual for them but was a difference between the body language shared by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle looked more comfortable together

While Harry and Meghan were certainly mourning the loss of Harry’s grandmother, the couple’s body language was a bit softer than William and Kate’s. The two did hold hands while walking to and from the ceremony, which broke the formal feeling of the event and strayed from protocol — something Harry and Meghan were known to do when it came to PDA.

“Prince Harry and Meghan use both contact tie signs, such as holding hands, and non-contact tie signs, such as postural echoing, their bodies orientated inwards towards one another, and mutual gaze in a mutual display of support and reassurance,” Loisel said of Harry and Meghan’s silent language during the lying-in-state ceremony. She noted there was substantial contrast between the two couples in how they were handling the situation, but it doesn’t appear that one couple is doing better or worse than the other.

Harry and Meghan have always differed from William and Kate with how they presented themselves in public. The Sussexes have never been shy about their public displays of affection, and it even led William and Kate to show a bit more affection to one another while out on royal engagements, once the royals recognized that the public appreciated Harry and Meghan’s affection toward one another. The two couples have not been on good terms since before Harry and Meghan left the royal family in 2020.