The death of Prince Philip, even though not unexpected at his age, nevertheless came as a blow to the royal family at a time when they've been under a great deal of strain. Perhaps the biggest problem faced by the royals of late has been the backlash stemming from Megxit, not the least being all those bombs lobbed by Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, during last month's Oprah tell-all. Needless to say, when Prince Harry decided to man up and attend his grandpa's funeral despite his plummeting popularity in his native land, it prompted a lot of speculation as to how awkward the situation would be. People wondered how the estranged brothers, William and Harry, would interact, although palace aides told the Daily Mail that both brothers, quote, "wish to focus on mourning their grandfather and do not want anything to get in the way of that." These same aides, however, also described the tension in the palace as they found themselves "walking on eggshells," not wanting to come under fire from supporters of either Team William/Kate or Team Harry/Meghan. Well, words (especially words from other horses' mouths) can only tell us so much, so The List turned to a couple of body language experts - Joseph Hoelscher, and psychotherapist Jennifer Tomko - to get their take on what the two princes may really have been feeling during the funeral procession. Hoelscher first pointed out the fact that as they walked behind the casket, William and Harry were, quote, "noticeably farther apart than the rest of the procession," although he did not speculate as to the reason behind this. We can't help but think, though, that memories of a similar, even sadder walk they took 24 years ago may have crossed both their minds. After all, when their mother, Princess Diana, was laid to rest, it was their grandfather Prince Philip who accompanied both young boys on that unbelievably painful occasion. Watch this video for why Harry and William's body language during the funeral is turning heads.
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00:00The death of Prince Philip, even though not unexpected at his age,
00:03nevertheless came as a blow to the royal family at a time when they'd been under a great deal
00:07of strain. Perhaps the biggest problem faced by the royals of late has been the backlash
00:11stemming from Megxit, not the least being all those bombs lobbed by Prince Harry and his wife
00:15Meghan Markle during last month's Oprah tell-all. Needless to say, when Prince Harry decided to man
00:20up and attend his grandpa's funeral, despite his plummeting popularity in his native land,
00:24it prompted a lot of speculation as to how awkward the situation would be.
00:28People wondered how the estranged brothers, William and Harry, would interact,
00:32although palace aides told the Daily Mail that both brothers, quote,
00:34"...wish to focus on mourning their grandfather and do not want anything to get in the way of that."
00:39These same aides, however, also described the tension in the palace as they found
00:42themselves walking on eggshells, not wanting to come under fire from supporters of either
00:46Team William-slash-Kate or Team Harry-slash-Meghan. Well, words, especially words from other horses'
00:51mouths, can only tell us so much, so the list turned to a couple of body language experts,
00:55Joseph Holscher and psychotherapist Jennifer Tomko, to get their take on what the two princes
01:00may really have been feeling during the funeral procession. Holscher first pointed out the fact
01:04that as they walked behind the casket, William and Harry were, quote,
01:07"...noticeably farther apart than the rest of the procession,"
01:09although he did not speculate as to the reason behind this. We can't help but think, though,
01:13that memories of a similar, even sadder walk they took 24 years ago may have crossed both their
01:18minds. After all, when their mother, Princess Diana, was late to rest, it was their grandfather,
01:22Prince Philip, who accompanied both young boys on that unbelievably painful occasion.
01:26Something else Holscher and the rest of the world couldn't have helped but notice
01:29was the fact that there was, quote, "...another person almost between the two princes,
01:33but slightly further back." He admitted that he wasn't sure why this was,
01:36but supposed it was some sort of protocol. This turns out to have been the case,
01:40since Peter Philip, son of Princess Anne, occupied that position due to his age and
01:44his place in the family, as another one of the Duke of Edinburgh's grandsons.
01:47Still, Holscher found it interesting that both princes were consistently forward of Philip's.
01:52As though they are setting their pace against each other. Returning to the subject of the man
01:55we now know to be Philip's, Holscher remarked that, quote, "...the guy in the middle kept
01:59dropping back," and interpreted his actions to mean that he may have felt uncomfortable
02:02at coming between the two brothers, despite where the Lord Chamberlain's office told him
02:06he should be walking. Holscher did say, though, that both princes are military veterans,
02:10so both would have been drilled in marching and learned that you should always guide off
02:14the person marching to your right. This would mean that Harry would be setting his pace against
02:17his brother. But Holscher felt that Harry, quote, "...despite the fact that he is on lowest place
02:21in terms of protocol since stepping back, was stepping forward in order to assert himself."
02:26Philip's, a.k.a. the poor unfortunate guy in the middle, Holscher sought to have
02:29sent some tension, which caused him to hesitate to step up. Tomko focused her attention less on
02:34how the princes were walking and more on what their facial expressions might have been conveying.
02:38She told us,
02:38"...throughout the procession, we could see the personalities of brothers.
02:41Every time the cameras capture William, she says we see the future king, quote,
02:45being the stoic and dutiful gentleman. With Harry, however, it was a different story.
02:49While he, too, was dutiful, as witnessed the fact that he flew back from California
02:53and waited out the required COVID quarantine period in order to attend the funeral,
02:56Tomko says she saw the Duke of Sussex, quote,
02:59"...showing some personality as he glances around at times,
03:02showing his curiosity and being more natural to himself."
03:04Yet another body language expert, relationship coach Nicole Moore,
03:08also noticed Harry's eye movement, in contrast to the rest of the family,
03:11having their eyes looking straight ahead, irreverently cast down.
03:14Her interpretation was that Harry's looking skyward was perhaps conveying his desire to
03:18escape from an uncomfortable situation, or else experiencing a sad memory of his late mother.