WHAT’S IN A ROYAL KISS?
As the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall lock lips in Singapore, we reveal why some members of the Royal Family are happy to indulge in public displays of affection while others avoid it at all costs
IT SHOULD be an unremarkable photograph: a married couple, reunited after five days apart, sharing a kiss. And yet the image of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall’s peck on the lips in Singapore has set many commentators’ tongues wagging. For when it comes to the Royal Family it seems that a kiss is very rarely just a kiss.
According to Robin Kermode, body language expert and founder of communications coaching company zone2. co.uk, it stems from a sense of duty. The Queen and Prince Philip – happily married for seven decades – very rarely show any outward signs of affection, hardly even touching each other during their royal engagements.
“There has always been that ‘stiff upper lip’ image from the Queen,” he says. “That formality is partly because she was brought up in a different era but also because of her role. Ask anyone to define Britishness and they’ll say the Queen and that formal attitude to public displays of affection (PDA) is a part of that. Don’t misinterpret it for a lack of feeling – it’s just that the role of the monarch is one of formality.”
And it seems Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge are also beginning to take their PDA cues from the head of the family. As they have taken on more duties their body language has become decidedly more formal.
Moments like the joyous embrace at the London 2012 Olympics – in which they appeared to forget themselves for a moment and became just another couple in love – are now increasingly rare. They are most often pictured side by side, hands kept firmly to themselves.
“William appears to have made a decision to go down the formal route following the example set by his grandmother,” says Kermode. “One can’t help wonder, if he didn’t have that pressure as second in line to the throne, whether he’d be more relaxed.
“You have to remember that William has spent his whole life knowing he will be king one day, which is a huge responsibility and an enormous sense of duty so he is simply carrying on the precedent set by the Queen.”
No such pressure for Prince Harry, however. At the recent Invictus Games he and girlfriend Meghan Markle were pictured holding hands, hugging and kissing – with no hint of that “stiff upper lip” approach adopted by his brother, father or grandparents.
“Harry has a lot more freedom but one shouldn’t discount his personality too,” explains Kermode, who is also the author of the book Speak So Your Audience Will Listen. “One can see that he’s very comfortable in his own skin. What is interesting is that if Harry was to suddenly find himself first in line to the throne, would his body language change? I suspect it wouldn’t. He’s really breaking the mould for the Royal Family in so many ways.”
AND Kermode also believes that even as William and Kate adopt a more formal public persona with each other in readiness for his future role, the man who will adopt that position before him is actually starting to loosen up a little. The awkward Prince Charles, who was forever fiddling with his cufflinks, has matured into a more relaxed future king.
“There’s no doubt Charles shows more emotion than he used to,” says Kermode. “He and Camilla now seem quite happy to hold hands in public and here they are even sharing a kiss in front of the cameras.”
And again it seems that the influence of Harry may also be a factor. The tactile Prince has never been afraid of embracing his father in public – and a little of that openness would appear to be rubbing off with Charles even recently being pictured kissing his father Prince Philip.
“I’m not in the slightest bit surprised Harry should be comfortable kissing his father,” says Kermode. “But for Charles to have taken that on board to kiss his own father is very interesting and rather encouraging too, I’d say.”