TL;DR:
- Camilla Parker Bowles and Kate Middleton watched Queen Elizabeth II cut a cake with a sword in 2021.
- According to a body language expert, they had different reactions to the late monarch’s choice of knife.
- Kate Middleton seemingly “ignored” a “nudge” from concerned Camilla Parker Bowles.
Cake, anyone? Queen Elizabeth II’s cheeky sense of humor was on full display when she cut a cake with a sword in 2021. Standing by were Queen Camilla and Kate Middleton. However, as noted by an expert, the queen consort and the Princess of Wales reacted differently to the late monarch’s cutlery choice.
Queen Elizabeth used a ‘more unusual’ sword to cut a cake in 2021 while Kate and Camilla watched
The queen, Camilla, and Kate took some time during the 2021 G7 summit in Cornwall, England, to visit organizers of the 2022 Platinum Jubilee’s Big Lunch.
There they met with local volunteers preparing for the four-day celebration marking Queen Elizabeth’s 70 years on the throne.
Part of it included a cake-cutting where the queen did the honors. However, she didn’t use just any knife. She swapped a knife for a ceremonial sword.
“I know there is,” the queen replied when someone pointed out a knife was also available (via Express). “This is something more unusual.”
The queen’s “retort,” body language expert Judi James told The Sun, “hinted she knew exactly what she was doing here and probably laughing about it inwardly.”
Kate picked up on Queen Elizabeth’s ‘subtle warning in her tone’ about cutting the cake with a sword
James continued, examining Kate and Camilla’s reactions when the queen reached for the sword.
“The sight of her mother-in-law wielding the sword created a response of fear and panic in Camilla,” the expert said. Now, 75, the queen consort “dithered slightly before nudging Kate to presumably disarm the monarch for fear she might cut herself or behead someone nearby.”
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Kate, James noted, “coolly ignored the nudge, aware the queen was totally on top of the moment.” Furthermore, she seemed to pick up on the “hint of subtle warning” in the queen’s voice.
“Kate’s body language suggested that she picked up on that tone, which many older people will empathize with, which is: ‘Please don’t fuss, I know perfectly well what I am doing, thanks!’”
Whereas “more anxious rituals” from Camilla hint she’d been “caught in something of a dilemma in terms of stepping in to help her extremely stoic and independent mother-in-law or to step back and watch a potential accident occur.”
Camilla made a ‘plea for joint effort’ to Kate when Queen Elizabeth picked the sword
Despite laughing and smiling, there were some hints of Camilla’s “fretting” in her body language.
“We can see Camilla fretting by the anxious pinching and lifting of her left hand in a truncated gesture and the way her head nods several times,” James observed. “She also glances at Kate as though looking for an ally in terms of taking action.
In the expert’s estimation, “Kate looks far more respectful to her ‘Boss,’ laughing at the queen’s joke but not replying to Camilla’s tie-signs.”
Camilla nudging Kate marked an “even stronger plea for joint effort,” James added before calling it risky. “One thing a lot of elderly people hate to see is younger relatives nudging one another or catching one another’s eye when they are watching you doing something by yourself.”
“Kate, therefore, seems to move slightly out of reach to watch the queen with a smile of confidence in the fact that her grandmother-in-law will cope well as usual,” the expert said. Next to her, “Camilla finally decides to take the risk of offering assistance, placing her hand on the sword to help push it through the cake.”
Showbiz Cheat Sheet acknowledges conditions and cultures can impact body language and is sensitive to all backgrounds.
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