King Charles and Queen Camilla both attended previously scheduled public engagements in the hours after Andrew Mountbatten-Windor's arrest on February 19—with Charles opening Fashion Week and Camilla in Westminster.
The couple put on a "business as usual / nothing is happening in our family / it's all fine" face (and avoided questions about Andrew), but a body language expert says they were tense to say the least.
Judi James tells the Daily Mail that both Charles and Camilla displayed mirroring anxiety rituals, with him fiddling with a button on his coat (a "desire to self-protect and self-comfort") and her playing with the knot on her coat belt.
"Both rituals had no practical use but they imply a desire to self-protect and self-comfort," she adds. "For the royals, who can't greet the world with crossed or folded arms, these truncated rituals are a strong hint of inner anxieties."
Judi also notes that Charles made himself look "vulnerable" and "slightly stooped," saying "His lips were held into a rigid smile of resilience and stoicism as he was greeted by his host but his brows were puckered in a steeple of anxiety and his eye expression suggested sadness."
Charles issued a statement about his brother shortly before his public appearance, saying "I have learned with the deepest concern the news about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and suspicion of misconduct in public office. What now follows is the full, fair and proper process by which this issue is investigated in the appropriate manner and by the appropriate authorities. In this, as I have said before, they have our full and wholehearted support and co-operation. Let me state clearly: the law must take its course. As this process continues, it would not be right for me to comment further on this matter. Meanwhile, my family and I will continue in our duty and service to you all. Charles R."
