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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Jennifer Newton

King Charles had predictable response to anti-monarchy protestors, claims expert

King Charles's reaction to anti-monarchy protestors was predictable as he has "stoicism in his DNA", a body language expert has said.

Around 20 protestors from the anti-monarchy group Republic held up huge signs with the message "Not My King" emblazoned across them as the monarch arrived in Milton Keynes.

The King was there to celebrate its new city status after it was awarded the accolade as part of the late Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations last year.

As he arrived at the church where the protestors had gathered with tight security, he chose to ignore those holding the signs and instead greeted well-wishers.

Protestors in the crowd to greet King Charles as he arrives in Milton Keynes (Samir Hussein/WireImage)
Charles ignored the protestors and shook hands chatted to well-wishers (Zak Hussein / SplashNews.com)

And according to body language expert Judi James, Charles did not seem fazed and carried on with his usual body language cues - and compared it to an incident in Australia when someone rushed the stage he was standing on.

She told the Mirror: "In 1994 the then Prince Charles was standing on stage in Sydney, Australia, when a student rushed up firing blank shots. Charles’s reaction then re-defined the word 'stoic' as he continued straightening the cuffs of his shirt, standing watching with what looked like mild interest and even seeming to crack a joke as the man was wrestled to the ground by security guards.

The King waves to the crowd (Getty Images)

"Charles has also been pelted by eggs since becoming King and neither event seemed to raise as much as a royal eyebrow, making it totally unlikely that he would bother to make any form of body language response to these banners of protest that were held up in Milton Keynes.

"The only thing that has visibly rattled Charles recently has been leaky pens, anything else he seems more than able to ignore.

Charles when a protestor rushed the stage during his trip to Sydney in 1994 (Seven West Media/Getty)

"Did he even see these signs? He probably did but he switched on a form of tunnel vision, focusing instead on the smiling fans waiting with outstretched hands in front of them.

"Royals always tend to keep their eye-line level with the people at the front of the crowds when they are pressing the flesh, so this behaviour would not look out of the ordinary at all."

Meanwhile, Judi believes there is a reason why Charles is capable of ignoring these incidents and carrying on.

She explained: "Showing a response can encourage these types of protest behaviours and the fact the ‘Not My King’ signs were identical would have told him they were the work of one small group of people rather than a sign of any general change of mood in the country as a whole.

"Charles has stoicism in his DNA, thanks to his mother the late Queen, enabling him to perform a perfect 'ignore'."

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