King Charles has "easily embraced" his new role as monarch and has cut down on gestures that suggest he is nervous, a body language expert has said.
The monarch is celebrating his first birthday as King today by turning 74 - two months following the death of his mother the Queen.
Yesterday, he led the nation at the Remembrance Day service at the Cenotaph on Sunday for the first time as head of state.
Today he is spending the day privately with no public engagements, but he will be working on his famous red box, dealing with his official documents such as Cabinet and State papers in his role as sovereign.
And according to body language expert Darren Stanton, the new King's body language has changed significantly throughout the years as his confidence has grown with his public role.
Speaking on behalf of Betfair Casino, he said: "As a younger man in his 20s, he was not very outgoing and extremely introverted. At the time, the royal family were seemingly cocooned in their own environment and did not really interact with anyone outside of the royal household.
"Charles' interaction with the general world was therefore limited, which is referred to as socialisation in psychology. The term is when we inevitably become affected by our environment and as a result of his environment being quite shielded, Charles grew up to be quite a nervous man.
"Some of the ways in which human beings display nervousness or a lack of confidence in social situations can vary greatly.
"However, some tell-tale signs from Charles are manifested in a number of behavioural gestures, which are often referred to as pacifiers or self-reassurance gestures in psychology. Pacifiers are gestures that are designed to reassure and calm ourselves down.
"King Charles has adopted a number of these gestures probably unconsciously when faced with certain situations over the course of his life, including playing with his cufflinks. Charles would often do this at social events, which is a clear indication of nerves and self-reassurance.
"Charles is also known for placing half his right hand inside his jacket, known as the hand tuck. This serves several purposes, but mainly as a gesture of reassurance that everything is okay.
"Since naturally spending so much time with their father, Prince William and Harry have also inherited these gestures from him. We have seen this in previous photographs and video footage of both of the brothers.
"However, as the decades have gone on, Charles has improved greatly in his sensory ability and confidence. This can be re-confirmed by a steady decline in the use of these pacifying gestures."
Now, Darren believes that Charles becoming King has been a "huge turning point" in his life and looks like more of a leader, "especially when it comes to meeting and greeting people at various events".
Darren added: "He was once quite introverted and did not like crowds very much. However, since stepping into his new role, he has been seen taking the time to walk around and speak to people.
"I think Charles has set aside many of the royal protocols he has grown up with and has been installed in him by the Queen, as we are now living in a very different society. He has embraced the change by making the monarchy more open and accessible. We have never seen members of the royal family interact more than they do right now.
"When addressing the nation, Charles appears to have very much embraced and slipped into his role as king very easily. There is an element of confidence in his tone and he has generally become a lot more statesmanlike in his body posture than ever before."
