It’s that time of the year again when the Royal Family makes its annual visit to Sandringham for the Christmas holidays in what has been a cherished tradition for many years.
While Kate Middleton is now well-versed in the art of the royal walkabout, she appeared rather nervous during her first visit to the monarch’s Norfolk estate after marrying Prince William in 2011.
And it appeared at least one royal didn’t help matters after a body language expert revealed how the future Queen was ‘quietly wounded’ by her husband’s cousin, Princess Eugenie.
A clip of the pair exiting St Mary Magdalene church after Christmas morning service showed how Eugenie seemingly snubbed the ‘non-royal’ who had married into the Royal Family, body language expert Judi James told the Daily Mail.
The video showed Eugenie ‘push past’ Kate after the newlywed appeared to glance in her direction, hoping to ‘engage’ her in conversation.
‘Was this really a case of “Move over, blue blood coming through” as Eugenie pushed past Kate here? Perhaps Eugenie didn’t see Kate and maybe it had no bearing on her attitude towards the future queen,’ Ms James, who analysed the video, said.
‘But a more forensic look at the body language here makes it hard to come down on the side of Eugenie, especially as Kate looks so quietly wounded by her action.’
Responding to the perceived slight, Kate – who picked an elegant plum coat with a matching hat for the occasion – turned away from Eugenie’s direction, as Ms James explained the cues that reflected poorly on the latter.
Ms James said it was striking to note the absence of any ‘small gestures of friendly support’ from Eugenie towards Kate, considering it was her first time at Sandringham.
While Kate ‘appears to look at Eugenie with the kind of expression that might convert into a smile’, the York princess responds with a ‘set’ facial expression.
‘William was standing a way behind her, and Eugenie slid through the gap between them,’ she continued.
‘It looks from Kate’s body language as though she’d been left in a small social hole where she had no one close to speak to while she had the world’s cameras trained on her.’
Ms James also pointed out that Eugenie would have been partly justified if William and Kate had been standing together, but this was not the case.
She also questioned why Eugenie felt the ‘need to leapfrog over the royal pecking order to get away’ rather than waiting behind Kate, William and his brother Harry.
‘These are public and photographic moments in the royal calendar. You don’t just push past because you think you left your heated rollers turned on at home or whatever,’ she quipped.
While she acknowledged that Eugenie’s intention may not have been to ‘be any form of a mean girl’, Ms James said it was ‘understandable why some more negative assessments’ are being made about their interaction online.
