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Several members of the British royal family gathered for Peter Phillips‘ wedding to Harriet Sperling on June 6, including King Charles, Queen Camilla, Prince William, the Princess of Wales (formerly known as Kate Middleton), and Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie with their husbands.

There had been chatter about whether the York sisters would attend the nuptials at all amid the fallout with their parents, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson, over their ties with Jeffrey Epstein. But the siblings were greeted warmly from the moment they arrived. However, an expert noticed that when Prince William kissed Beatrice on the cheek, she showed a “lack of gratitude.”

James told The Mirror: “William is a totally camera-shrewd royal. His marriage and his life with Kate has been media-managed to avoid any of the relentless soap opera that plagued his mother and under pressure we tend to see him opting for either a static, bland approach or a cleverly curated one where he’s even seen covering his mouth to avoid being lip-read.

“But William is no cold fish and can allow authentic glimpses of his loving, affectionate, or playful side too, which means that his subtle or more openly affectionate PDAs should be seen as meaningful and deliberate.”

The expert then recalled how the future king acted towards Beatrice’s father, Andrew, during the Duchess of Kent’s funeral in September 2025.

“We saw William’s rejection or cutting of Andrew at the Duchess of Kent’s funeral when Andrew, as usual, positioned himself to be as visible to the cameras as possible before sidling up to William, chuckling and chatting in the kind of ebullient style that could have defined the two men as being close. William was clearly having none of it though and his blank expression supplied a more authentic view of the relationship.”

James explained that “William’s actions in greeting Beatrice at Phillips’ wedding show clear intent, as he made no effort to shy away from the prying eyes and cameras, despite the scandal surrounding the York sisters.”

Judi noted: “We saw two key facts about William here: firstly that he is firm in his personal choices about who to accept or reject and secondly, that he has the courage to make his decisions visible in public. So this kiss with Beatrice would probably not have been prompted by any avoidance of social embarrassment or any sense of a truce because of the family occasion.

 “A man who will publicly cut his uncle at a family funeral is probably a man who could have dodged out of this fond-looking ritual. William has a history of dodging difficult encounters too. His signature ploy at Christmas gatherings has been to start fussing with his scarf until the problematic family member has walked past.”

She added, “The body language here also suggests that William is performing what’s called an ‘act of inconvenience,’ such as going out of his way to bestow a warm-looking kiss on Beatrice’s cheek. He has to bend and stoop quite low to plant it and we can see how hunched his back is here. This effortful body language would naturally suggest that he means it. Although the kiss is public it doesn’t look over-performed though as Edo is standing blocking some of the camera views.”

However, James pointed out that the princess didn’t seem too grateful about her cousin’s gesture, saying, “William’s public display of what looks like affection and acceptance doesn’t appear to be returned in full here, though. Beatrice looks away during the ritual in an act of distraction, and her lips are pursed rather than relaxed in a fond smile. There’s no response of either relief or gratitude from her here.”

Showbiz Cheat Sheet acknowledges that conditions and cultures can impact body language and is sensitive to all backgrounds.

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