King Charles’ Christmas Speech Was Different from Queen Elizabeth’s in Two Ways According to Body Language Expert
King Charles III gave his first Christmas speech. A body language expert says there were two big differences between the king’s speech and the speech of his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
King Charles’ Christmas speech was different from Queen Elizabeth’s
This was the first time King Charles gave a Christmas speech as the leader of the royal family. This year’s speech had a few key changes. There were some noticeable differences between his style and the way the late monarch delivered her holiday speech.
Body language expert Judi James outlined some of the ways Charles’ speech was different. According to her, there were physical and emotional differences. The first noticeable change was that Charles chose to stand instead of sitting behind a desk like Queen Elizabeth.
“Charles chose to perform his speech standing up and in a chapel rather than sitting behind a desk at home as his mother used to do,” James tells Express. “The Queen did do her speech standing like this at times over the years but her sitting pose, with the framed family photos around her, did become iconic.”
King Charles showed emotion during his speech
The second change the body language expert saw was that Charles seemed more emotional than the queen did during her speech. Although he presented himself in a formal manner at times, he also showed some emotion.
“Charles adopted a slightly military air for his speech that reflected his father’s way of speaking, with some heel bounces and jaw-jutting to hint at a resilient and energetic tone,” says James during her Express interview. “But despite the slightly military tone, Charles was also much more sharing with his inner, personal emotions than his mother tended to be. His brows were furrowed for most of it and when he spoke of his ‘beloved mother’ we saw an asymmetric facial expression create a contrast between the two sides of his face.”
The location of King Charles’ speech avoided any potential problems
Another detail James points out is that Charles avoids any issues that might arise when it comes to which pictures to place on the desk. When Queen Elizabeth gave her speech at her desk, a display of family photos could be seen in the background.
Considering the strain between Meghan, Harry, and the royals, King Charles might have been conflicted about placing their picture among the others. By standing up and away from a desk, he doesn’t have which pictures to display. This way, he can avoid the possibility of offending a family member.
Our take
King Charles did a great job during his first Christmas speech. It must have been difficult to carry on during the first Christmas without his mother. King Charles did the right thing by opting to stand instead of sitting at a desk with family photos. If he left anyone out, this would likely cause a deeper rift within the family.
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