A body language expert says King Charles III looked like a “sore loser” after Princess Diana one-upped him with a dazzling piano performance. Ahead, how the king missed his “moment to shine” during a 1988 royal tour of Australia.
King Charles gave a lackluster cello performance during what was supposed to be his ‘moment to shine’
During a visit to a music college, it was, as body language expert Judi James said, the king’s “moment to shine.”
“Charles was very much into his forte, meeting an old cello tutor in this place of learning,” she said (via Express). He’d “excelled at the cello. And this was his moment to shine, flexing those intellectual muscles in front of the waiting world.”
However, as James noted, the now-74-year-old didn’t much attention to Diana. “He appeared to ignore his wife from start to finish at this visit, walking in with her trailing in his wake.”
At being asked to play the cello, “Charles’s grin suggested he adored being in the spotlight for once.” Meanwhile, Diana broke out in a “fit of giggles.” Her reaction, per James, “might have bruised his ego a little as he did nothing to join in the laughter.”
The king went on to give what James called a “toe-curling” performance. He “scraped out two duff notes before giving the instrument back in a tumbleweed moment.”
King Charles ‘ignored’ Princess Diana after she excelled during an impromptu piano performance
Next up was Diana. The tutor asked her to play the piano. The king, James said, looked downright crestfallen.
“Charles’s face could be seen to drop like a brick and he stuffed his hands in his pockets, throwing what looked like an angry stare at the tutor,” she said. Then “Diana walked shyly across to the piano but what happened next was legendary.”
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“As everyone was waiting for, at best, a giggling and very embarrassing version of Chopsticks, Diana suddenly took on a very serious facial expression, threw her bag onto the floor, and delivered a brilliant rendition of the first few bars of Rachmaninov’s second concerto, a notoriously difficult piece to play,” James explained.
When it was over, Diana “resumed the shy body language she was famous for” as she made her way toward the king. Although his body language wasn’t that of a proud husband, the expert continued.
“Charles ignored her as though she were a stranger,” she said. He stood by “watching as she went past him and out the door,” she added, “looking like a very sore loser as he did so.” The only recognition the king seemed to give Diana was, as James noted, a light clap on the back.
Princess Diana’s popularity led to ‘complicated situations’ in her marriage to King Charles
During her 1995 Panorama interview with Martin Bashir, who was later found to have forged documents, Diana discussed her marriage. Particularly, how the attention she received became a major source of conflict for her and the king.
“The pressure on us both as a couple with the media was phenomenal,” she said, adding many people “misunderstood” it (via Marie Claire).
“Now, if you’re a man like my husband, a proud man, you mind about that if you hear it every day for four weeks,” Diana explained, referring to crowds expressing their disappointment at being on the king’s side of the street during walkabouts in Australia.
“And you feel low about it, instead of feeling happy and sharing it,” she continued, saying it made an “uncomfortable” and “unfair” situation. Finally, Diana confirmed the king’s jealousy telling Bashir, “with the media attention came a lot of jealousy.”
Three years after the “toe-curling” recital and Diana’s piano triumph, the pair separated before divorcing in 1996.
Showbiz Cheat Sheet acknowledges conditions and cultures can impact body language and is sensitive to all backgrounds.
