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King Charles III and Queen Camilla’s (formerly known as Camilla Parker Bowles) coronation took place on May 6. The royal family gathered again the following day for a special Coronation concert. Prince William and the Princess of Wales (formerly known as Kate Middleton) attended the event with Prince George and Princess Charlotte.
A video from the concert has been making the rounds and many royal watchers were quick to point out that William did not bow to Camilla when she walked in front of him to get to her seat. Now, a body language is weighing in and thinks the prince choosing not to do so could “subconsciously” have something to do with his late mother Princess Diana.
Body language expert says William ‘sided with his mother’ when he didn’t bow to Camilla
Following what some perceived as a snub, body language expert Judi James analyzed the footage and shared with Express her take on the situation.
According to James, William performing the act for his stepmother may have seemed “unnatural” to him for an obvious reason. The expert explained that the Prince of Wales could have followed his gut instinct and potentially subconsciously sided with Princess Diana when he failed to bow to the new queen.
“Would William have felt comfortable bowing to the woman who took the place of his mother on the throne of the U.K.?” James said and observed that the prince “turns to look at his father but avoids looking at his stepmother. This is a unique example of selective bowing where William, Charlotte, and George opt to not bow or curtsy to Camilla.”
However, as James noted, the Princess of Wales did curtsy to both Charles and Camilla as they made their way to their seats.
James noticed that “Kate engages Camilla in some eye contact and a warm smile before dropping into a curtsy that she might not have performed before the Coronation. There must have been a sense of awareness of Camilla’s new role and status and we can see the Duke of Gloucester dropping his head before Kate makes a similar gesture. Kate smiles at Camilla here before curtsying and it appears that she is still in the role of royal peace-maker here.
“Kate looks keen to register an end to any sense of animosity or resentment with this one simple gesture of respect from a future queen to the current one.”
There could be another reason Prince William did not bow when Queen Camilla passed him
However, there could be a simple explanation as to why William was not seen bowing to the queen when she walked past him.
Protocol dictates that members of the royal family only have to bow or curtsy the first time they see the more senior royal that day. This was the case back in March when a video of Kate not curtsying to the king as she greeted him at Commonwealth Day service went viral. It was then reported that she most likely saw the monarch in the morning ahead of the afternoon service. So it’s certainly possible that William and his children saw Camilla earlier and therefore did not have to bow when they saw her again at the concert.
