Prince Andrew had an “uncomfortable” and “frosty” exchange with Prince William as the pair paid tribute to Katharine, the Duchess of Kent, at the funeral service at Westminster Cathedral on Tuesday. Andrew could be seen muttering a few words to William, who appeared to decline to engage in any conversation.
A body language expert describes how there was “awkwardness” between the pair, with Andrew also giving a “smug-looking smile”. As reported in the Daily Mail, Judi James, spoke of the interaction: “The Duke of York tries to engage his nephew in a good-humoured chat and all William’s non-verbal responses suggest awkwardness and a subliminal desire to reject the overtures, making this look like a very frosty transaction.
“Andrew turns his head fully towards William to not only get his attention but seeming to want to coax a mirrored response that shows he has his attention, too.”
Speaking of the interaction, she added: “When he [Prince Andrew] turns his face to the front he is wearing a smug-looking smile and he even turns back as though trying to gain a mirrored response from William.”
The body language expert explained how William used body language signals to suggest a lack of desire to communicate with Andrew.
She said: “Firstly he barely inclines his head in Andrew’s direction and then he seems to avoid eye contact, looking down or away. There is the very exaggerated and prolonged rubbing of his nose with his fist to form a barrier to his mouth with this ‘act of distraction’.”
Lastly there is a rising up then banging down onto his heels, which will often signal “subject closed”.
She also added: “William is at some pains to appear polite despite potentially feeling compromised here, but he is clearly made uncomfortable and is perhaps relieved when he can return to the more solemn facial expression of mourning.”
Prince Andrew stepped down as a working royal shortly after his disastrous BBC Newsnight interview, following his association with the late paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, but he still attends private family events.
Among the other royals attending were Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence , the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and Prince Andrew with his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson. The King and Queen and wider members of The Royal Family also joined The Duke of Kent, his children and grandchildren in mourning their loss and remembering fondly The Duchess’s life-long devotion to all the organisations.
Katharine, Duchess of Kent passed away at the age of 92 on September 4 at Kensington Palace, having left a life of royal duties behind several years earlier.
And, even though she had been an asset to the Royal Family for many years and had spent decades travelling the world representing the monarch, she had her family’s full support to take a step back and give up her HRH title.