A Body Language Expert Analyzes 13 Iconic Photos of Princess Diana
It's not just hindsight that's 20/20—so too is body language, at least if you know what to look for. No one can read non-verbal cues quite so adeptly as our body language expert, Patti Wood, MA who helps us review the evolution of the doomed relationship between Prince Charles and his first wife, Diana, Princess of Wales.
A subtle warning sign
Theirs was to have been a storybook romance, or so it seemed. When Prince Charles met Lady Diana Spencer for the first time in 1977, he was the 29-year-old heir apparent to the British throne, and she was the teenaged kid sister of the woman on whom the young prince had set his sights. Although Charles was the "most eligible bachelor in the world," Lady Sarah Spencer was indifferent to the young prince.
It wasn't until two years after that relationship fizzled that Prince Charles finally took an interest in Lady Diana. A brief courtship began, and six months later, the prince proposed. Here in late February 1981, right after announcing their engagement, the two pose informally outside Buckingham Palace, with Diana gently and passively resting her hand palm down on the crook of the Prince's arm while the prince hides one hand inside his jacket. "It's an early and subtle warning sign of Charles' lack of commitment," Wood notes. "He's attempting to make the connection less intimate."
Destined for doom
"During the engagement so many years ago, I could already see something wasn't quite right between Prince Charles and Lady Diana," Wood tells Reader's Digest, pointing out how in this photo taken during the engagement, Diana is gazing away from Charles, her eyes hooded and looking so sad it appears tears are mere seconds away. Wood also notes how Diana's shoulders are stiff and up near her ears while her arms are tense and still. It's as if a "fear" response has been triggered, and she's frozen in place. "She may be fearful of the cameras," Wood points out, "but notice how Prince Charles [who arguably has been getting comfortable with cameras all his life], is also holding his arms stiffly by his side. It's as if these two already know their impending nuptials are a mistake, but they're powerless to do anything about it. Don't miss these 10 facts you probably don't know about Diana, Princess of Wales
And so they lived happily ever after...?
It was to have been the wedding of the century, nay, a wedding for the ages. And, in a sense, it was. Nearly 1 billion television viewers in 74 countries watched the two exchange vows at St. Paul's Cathedral in the presence of 2,650 guests as they wed on July 29, 1981. But that was just the first day of the rest of their lives, and judging by the dynamics at work in this photo of the newlyweds kissing on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, things were about to slide downhill, fast. "See how she's doing all the work?" Wood points out to Reader's Digest. She's clearly passionate about her new husband, but he does not share her ardor. It's as if she's literally "bending over backward" to hold his attention, while he responds with a nearly chaste peck on the lips, his eyes closed, his passion either in-check or non-existent.
