A body-language expert told the Daily Mail that Prince William positioned himself between Catherine, Princess of Wales, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, acting as a "buffer" during a public appearance following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
The expert's assessment came as the paper revisited the moment when the two brothers, accompanied by their wives, walked out to meet mourners outside Windsor Castle. The appearance came amid intense scrutiny of relations within the royal family three years after the monarch's death, a period that has included Prince Harry's memoir and his high-profile legal dispute over security arrangements.
The Windsor encounter was widely compared to a sombre scene nearly 25 years earlier, when then-teenage Princes William and Harry moved among crowds outside Kensington Palace after the death of their mother, Diana, Princess of Wales. In 2022, the brothers again presented a united front in public, but relations were publicly strained: the Sussexes formally stepped back from senior royal duties in January 2020.
The body-language expert's comments focused on physical positioning and nonverbal cues visible during the royal appearance. The Daily Mail report said the expert interpreted William's placement as protective and mediating, particularly at moments when Catherine deviated from standard royal protocol. The paper also cited a book that called the day "one of the hardest things" Catherine had ever had to do.
Representatives for Buckingham Palace and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the expert analysis. The palace has previously said that private family matters are handled within the family.
The Windsor appearance drew attention not only because of its emotional context but because it highlighted the long-running tensions between the brothers. Those tensions have played out publicly through interviews, legal battles and published accounts, and they have fueled media and public interest in every subsequent joint appearance.
Observers at the time noted the symbolic weight of the visit: for many onlookers the scene evoked images of national mourning from the 1990s, while for royal-watchers it underscored how family relationships and public duty intersect for working members of the royal household. Analysts and commentators have continued to scrutinize gestures and interactions at such events as signals of the state of personal relationships within the family.
The episode at Windsor remains part of an ongoing narrative about the royal family in the years since Queen Elizabeth II's death. Public and media attention to both formal engagements and private disputes has continued to shape coverage of the monarchy, with experts and authors offering interpretations of conduct and protocol whenever members appear together in public.