Prince William \201cSides with Diana\201d by Breaking Royal Protocol and Not Bowing to Queen Camilla, Expert Says

(Image credit: Getty)

published 28 May 2023

When Prince William failed to bow to the newly crowned Queen Camilla during the Coronation, it was an example of the Prince of Wales following his gut instinct and potentially subconsciously siding with his late mother, Princess Diana, a body language expert says, per The Mirror.

The move was actually a break in royal protocol, but body language expert Judi James says William might have found it unnatural to bow to his stepmother, who had an extramarital affair with his father, King Charles, throughout the majority of his marriage to Diana. The Mirror points out that William was not alone in this, and that the majority of the royal family bowed or curtseyed to the King only. Royal protocol states that royals of a lower rank must bow or curtsy to those in a higher rank—so William and basically all of the other members of the royal family should have bowed or curtseyed to the new Queen.

While the possibility does exist that he had already bowed earlier in the day off camera and didn’t feel the need to do so again, James says “Would William have felt comfortable bowing to the woman who took the place of his mother on the throne of the U.K.? He turns to look at his father but avoids looking at his stepmother.”

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James calls this “a unique example of selective bowing,” noting that William and his two eldest children Prince George and Princess Charlotte also opted not to bow or curtsy to Camilla.

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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.