A gesture from Prince William towards his brother Prince Harry could signal an improvement in the brothers' relationship, an expert has said.
The brothers were reunited on Monday for their grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II's funeral. Since leaving for California, Harry and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex have been leading largely separate lives from the rest of the family after stepping down from their royal duties.
During the funeral, Harry and William stood side by side together as they marched in procession behind the Queen's coffin.
READ MORE: Odd things at previous royal funerals as Queen Elizabeth is laid to rest
William had to hold back his wife Kate as well as children Prince George and Princess Charlotte to let Harry and Meghan take their seats. William had to point out that they needed to wait, forcing Kate to step back to allow Harry and Meghan to make their way down.
And according to body language expert Judi James, it appeared that during this moment there was little communication between the families.
She told the Mirror : "During the second service in Windsor there was a moment when William and his family had to hold back to allow Harry and Meghan to get into the pews first."
"Despite the proximity, there seemed to be no sign on camera of any glances or exchanged acknowledgements, apart from a hand-flicking gesture from Harry." But despite the tension, Judi also noted another moment, which could signal a breakthrough in the brothers' relationship.
Candid shots of the royals who took part in the procession behind the late monarch's coffin in Windsor Castle show them awaiting the arrival of the funeral cortege. In them, King Charles, Princess Anne, Peter Phillips, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward, William and Harry can be seen alongside the other male royals who walked in the procession.
Harry appears to slightly keep his distance from the group, who seem deep in conversation with the King while the Earl of Snowdon, Sir Timothy Laurence and the Duke of Gloucester chat in another bubble. According to Judi, it's obvious that Harry is "physically excluded" from the group but there is a sign that William and Harry could be starting to repair their relationship.
She said: "Harry looks physically excluded or sidelined in this grouping with some royals gathering around Charles while the others stand with the Earl of Snowdon, almost with their backs turned to Harry.
"The one moment we have not seen during this visit, despite Charles’s warm words during his speech, is any form of physical meeting between Harry and his father Charles.
"All the attention has been on Harry and William but they have performed a couple of forced-looking chatting rituals in the past, and in the Oprah interview it seemed to be his father that received all the really negative body language responses from Harry, rather than William.
"William does seem to have hung back slightly here, which could hopefully be prompted by empathy and the brothers might just be looking in each others’ direction and even speaking, even if their body language is not mirrored as usual.
"Hopefully these images outside do signal a breakthrough in terms of the sibling relationship and once the funeral is over and there is no risk of dragging sibling soap operas into the spotlight there might be one last sign of some sort of a reunion."
READ NEXT
- Queen's coffin bearers were specifically chosen to protect her bod y
- Odd things at previous royal funerals as Queen Elizabeth is laid to rest
- Princess Anne makes 'unusual' request as she 'eats same breakfast dish every day
- ' King Charles 'always skips one meal' and has 'same breakfast every day'
- The day Queen Elizabeth II died as it unfolded
You can light a candle for Queen Elizabeth II here or leave a tribute to her here
