The unspoken tension engulfing the British royal family was inadvertently spotlighted at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey in London on Monday.
Prince Harry put on the most “emotional display” and exuded “sadness and regret” when he glanced at his brother, Prince William, during the somber ceremony, body-language expert Judi James told The Sun.
“During the service he was dabbing tears as well as tending to look around a lot,” she said. “And there were at least two occasions when his gaze that was more of a stare appeared directed at William. His expression suggested sadness and possible regret.”
James said Harry’s sullen demeanor oozed intense regret, most likely over his estranged relationship with his brother, sister-in-law Kate Middleton and their children, with whom he was once extremely close.
“Standing in line he watched as the brother he had once been so close to; the nephew he had adored playing with, and the sister-in-law he had viewed as his own sister filed in front of him with not one glance in his direction,” James told The Sun.
“His face seemed to pucker into a more intense signal of grief and his lips sucked in again.”
James also said the escalating tension between the brothers — who were close until Harry’s actress-wife Meghan Markle came into the picture — was evident, even though the princes largely kept their emotions in check.
Subtle cues given off by subconscious body language spoke volumes, she said.
“Following the coffin beside his brother there were some suppressed signals of tension, like the sucked-in lip,” she remarked. “But when the coffin was being lowered he did a repeat of the shoulder-rolling gesture from the last walk.”
Do you think Prince Harry regrets how he has treated his family?
James continued: “He appeared to not only be bracing or steeling himself for the service inside but also mimicking the gesture the coffin bearers were doing in what looked like a desire to take a more active role himself.”
Obviously, this analysis — like others proffered from a distance — should be taken with a grain of salt.
However, there’s no denying that Harry’s relationship with William and the royal family has splintered ever since Harry married Meghan and the newlyweds announced in January 2020 that they were stepping down from their royal duties.
Exacerbating the situation was Harry and Meghan’s tawdry efforts to monetize their titles, even after Markle repeatedly played the race card against the royal family.
Markle has been widely criticized as a social-climbing opportunist who’s destroying the British monarchy. Regardless of your opinion about the royal family, there’s no denying its place in history.
The former actress, whom most people had never heard of before she hooked the prince, has a history of alienating family members, so it’s no surprise that Harry became estranged from his family just two years into their marriage.
Meghan Markle’s dad accuses her and Prince Harry of destroying the royal family.
Thomas Markle said they’d cheapened it and made it shabby by turning it into a ‘Walmart with a crown on it’.#HarryAndMeghan #ThomasMarkle #MeghanMarkle pic.twitter.com/nl9ISPqePk
— On Demand News (@ODN) January 19, 2020
Meghan’s estranged father, Thomas Markle, derided his daughter as a money-grubbing fame monger.
“Both of them are turning into lost souls at this point,” he said in the 2020 documentary Thomas Markle: My Story. “They are turning [the royal family] into a Walmart with a crown on.”
Markle added, “Every young girl wants to become a princess, and she got that. And now she’s tossing that away for … money.”
Like countless people around the world, Queen Elizabeth II was reportedly appalled that Meghan wanted to cheapen the monarchy by selling it out for fistfuls of cash.
