What might have looked like an everyday outing for Princess Eugenie has captured royal fans’ attention.
The 36-year-old, who is pregnant with her third child, made a rare public outing for lunch with friends last week, and she took a series of phone calls afterwards.
Eugenie’s serious expression while on the phone might have sparked chatter of more behind-the-scenes drama for the York family, our body language expert has revealed what her gestures really mean.
Jo Hayes, founder of EtiquetteExpert.org, exclusively tells New Idea how her phone call was likely related to an “innocuous” parenting issue, but adds that her gestures did show a telling sign of “alarm”.
“This is, highly likely, an everyday moment that any of us could have/would have (were we late third trimester pregnant) … no ‘unusual’ body language on show here,” she tells us.
“I daresay she’s discussing a topic as innocuous as the nanny calling to say that the boys aren’t going down for their naps, and she’s asking permission if she can take them to the park. Something inconsequential like that, that any mother would face.
“Her facial expression does show deep concentration, as though she’s listening intently to something important, but when you’re that far into pregnancy, everything feels like effort, and that facial expression of effort or even ‘concern’ replaces what would normally be a more relaxed facial expression, for the normal mundane daily phone conversations that any working mother has.”
Jo notes that her hand gestures could signal “urgency or alarm”, but reassures royal watchers that as she was taking the phone call while walking on a public street, it likely wasn’t anything too drastic.
“The one point of interest that I would note, however, is her left hand/fingers raised slightly,” she explains.
‘This could possibly indicate a sense of urgency or alarm, when we’re having a normal conversation on the phone while walking like this, if we’re discussing nothing urgent or out of the blue, our hands normally remain in a downward position, so this could indicate something.
“But the fact that she is still walking while doing this, rather than stopping/pausing, would say that it’s nothing too bad. If we’re receiving some shocking news on the phone, typical behaviour would be to stop/ pause/‘pull over’ to allow us to fully concentrate on what is being said.”
It is a rare public outing for Eugenie, who has remained out of the spotlight since the Epstein scandal engulfed her parents, Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and Sarah Ferguson.
Along with her sister, Beatrice, she has skipped public events, but is expected to make a public comeback at her cousin Peter Phillips’ June wedding.
Eugenie has also been keeping things low-key since announcing her third pregnancy with her husband, Jack Brooksbank.
The couple already share sons, August, five, and Ernest, two, and are counting down the days until they welcome their third child.
“Her Royal Highness Princess Eugenie and Mr Jack Brooksbank are very pleased to announce that they are expecting their third child together, due this summer,” an announcement confirmed earlier this month.
“His Majesty The King has been informed and is delighted with the news.”
They have not confirmed their baby’s due date, but it is expected to be in the coming months.
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