Prince William defied royal protocol at the King's Coronation when he chose not to bow to Queen Camilla at the Coronation Concert.
A body language expert claims that the Prince of Wales might have found it strange to perform such a gesture to his stepmother. Instead, Judi James said gut instinct might have seen him subconsciously side with his late mother, Princess Diana, the Mirror reports.
The majority of the royal family had already taken their allocated seats for the special concert at Windsor on May 7 when King Charles and Queen Camilla arrived and most of the Firm then bowed or curtseyed to the king only.
Prince George and Princess Charlotte even followed their father's lead and failed to formally greet their grandmother.
However, their mum Kate chose to make a point of curtseying to both royals.
Judi James told the Express.co.uk that royal protocol states lower royals must bow or curtsey to those in a higher position than them so with Camilla now above the Prince of Wales as Queen, William should have formally addressed her.
However, the body language expert said there is a possibility that he had already done so earlier in the day off camera and didn't feel the ned to do it again.
Ms James said: "Would William have felt comfortable bowing to the woman who took the place of his mother on the throne of the UK?
"He turns to look at his father but avoids looking at his stepmother." Kate however offered a "warm" gesture to her mother-in-law.
James continued: "This is a unique example of selective bowing, where William, Charlotte and George opt to not bow or curtsy to Camilla in keeping with protocol, but Kate drops a deep curtsy to both Charles and Camilla.
"It looks like an appeasement gesture after Camilla has been elevated to the role of Queen."
Ms James opined: "Kate engages Camilla in some eye contact and a warm smile before dropping into a curtsy that she might not have performed before the Coronation.
"There must have been a sense of awareness of Camilla’s new role and status and we can see the Duke of Gloucester dropping his head before Kate makes a similar gesture.
"Kate smiles at Camilla here before curtsying and it appears that she is still in the role of royal peace-maker here."
Ms James argued that this may be because Kate herself will one day be a Queen Consort and would want the same sort of respect given to her.
She added: "Meanwhile, Kate looks keen to register an end to any sense of animosity or resentment with this one simple gesture of respect from a future Queen to the current one."
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