A lipreader says Prince William gave Kate Middleton sharp instructions after a Platinum Jubilee event with the late Queen that saw Prince Harry display ‘anxious body language’ around his brother

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle could be returning to the UK this Christmas after a plea from King Charles to see his grandchildren.

The family haven’t often been seen together in recent years amid tensions surrounding Megxit and bombshell claims in the Duke of Sussex’s book Spare and the tell-all Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan. But even when top royals have put their differences aside to mark royal occasions, it hasn’t always gone perfectly. At the Sussexes’ first appearance at a royal event since quitting the monarchy, during which they celebrated the Platinum Jubilee alongside the late Queen, a lipreader decoded a tense exchange between Kate Middleton and Prince William as they chatted on the steps of the cathedral after the service.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were seen exchanging words at the Jubilee event ( 
Image:
PA)

According to lip reading expert John Cassidy, as they emerged onto the steps, Kate remarked on the service saying: “It went very well, very well” with William replying: “Yes, perfect.” Afterwards, William could be seen waving to the crowd saying hello, and Mr Cassidy says the prince then turned to Kate and said: “Wait for that to move, then we can go.”

The instructions came after the event was marred by tense body language from Prince Harry, according to body language experts. Judi James told the Mirror that William adopted a “barrier gesture” as he and wife Kate walked past the pew where his brother sat on the way to his seat.

She explained: “Harry looked firmly resigned to the back row here and was not sitting behind his brother as he was for the last service of remembrance… he fell into a haunted eye expression with some rapid blinking to suggest inner anxiety, leaning in and down to Meghan when she spoke as though keen to get some support.

Prince William and Kate Middleton (left) were seated separately from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

There was the opposite to an acknowledgement from William as he walked past Harry’s row during the parade out of the service. Sucking in his lips and with his chin pulled up in a gesture of resolve he appeared to turn his head in the other direction for a moment, raising his order of service high in a barrier gesture.”

After the Jubilee, William and Harry were forced together again just months later after the death of their late grandmother the Queen. They even joined together with their wives Kate and Meghan to carry out a joint walkabout in Windsor to look at floral tributes and greet thousands of wellwishers. But their relationship is reportedly under strain once again, after Omid Scobie’s new book Endgame sent shockwaves across the world when a Dutch translation named two royals who allegedly raised ‘concerns’ about Prince Archie’s skin colour.