Prince Harry wanted to take more of a lead role at the service held for the Queen yesterday, according to a body language expert.
The Duke of Sussex took more of a back seat and watched as Her Majesty’s coffin was carried into Westminster Hall in preparation for her lying-in-state.
And body language expert Judi James says the prince – who wasn’t even permitted to wear a military uniform during the service – wanted to do more and even help carry the coffin, his body language revealed.
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Judi told The Sun Online: “Harry’s fingers seemed to clench and unclench a couple of times as though steeling himself for the sight of the coffin and his eyes took on a rather haunted expression, with steepled brows illustrating his sadness.
“As he watch the coffin being lowered at the end of the walk, one hand stroked his frock coat in a self-comfort ritual and his shoulders rolled gently as though miming the act of loading and carrying the coffin, suggesting he would have liked to be the one helping to carry it.”
The Duke then followed brother Will and his wife Kate Middleton out of Westminster Hall following the service, holding hands with wife Meghan all the while.
(Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
In a procession prior to the service, “feuding” brothers William and Harry walked next to each other alongside their father King Charles III behind the Queen’s coffin.
The pair are rarely seen together these days ever since Harry and Meghan left the Royal Family, but since the Queen’s death, have been spotted side by side on a few occasions.
The brothers, accompanied by their wives, attended a walkabout at Windsor Palace last week to observe tributes left to their grandmother and speak to grieving fans gathered there in a moment that one expert said would have made their grandmother “proud”.
(Image: Getty Images)
You can leave your tributes to Queen Elizabeth II here.
Speaking about the coming-together on Saturday, royal expert Jennie Bond said in The Mirror: “If there is a positive legacy from this saddest of weeks, it is the sight of the Queen’s feuding grandsons William and Harry united, at last, in grief, with their wives at their side.
“There is a long way to go. But their grandmother would surely be relieved and proud.”
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