Harry seemed ‘scared’ to meet William at Easter church service

Prince Harry and Prince William used to be close, but their relationship has deteriorated in recent years.

During a tour of South Africa in 2019, the Duke of Sussex first openly hinted that he and William were no longer too affectionate in an interview with Tom Bradby.

Harry explained to the ITV host that he and his older brother were on “different paths.”

As Harry revealed to Oprah Winfrey during his controversial interview on March 8, the split has shown no signs of healing.

Their relationship, Harry told the media mogul, was one of “space at the moment.”

At a family church service at St George's Chapel in Windsor in April 2019, the Duke of Sussex was reunited with William and Kate. Throughout the experience, Harry seemed to go out of his way to prevent having eye contact with his older brother, implying a tense relationship between the two royals.

Judi James, a body language specialist, has talked to the Daily Star about what she thinks was the most tense interaction between the two since their reported rivalry began.

In the video, Harry can be seen walking ahead of William and Kate as they make their way to the chapel to welcome the pastor and await the Queen's arrival at the door.

The two brothers don't seem to have acknowledged to each other the whole time.

When Harry arrives at the venue, he makes no effort to turn around and recognize his brother, Judi tells the Daily Star.

Instead, he darts about, ducking towards the wall, but then realizing that he has to cut through his brother to greet the other line of hosts.

As the Queen arrives, he places himself at the back of the line-up, with Zara and Mike standing between him and Kate and William, and his anxiety rituals seem to intensify as he pulls his jacket around.

Because of Harry's reaction when William approached, Judi said the royal encounter was the “tensest.”

She said that he did tend to move about, as as though he was afraid of running into his brother.

He seemed to wind up at the back of a group when what he could have done was follow William and Kate and stay laughing and chatting with them.

Harry had always been gregarious, polite, and outgoing, but this obvious shift in attitude was very shocking.

This was like watching Ant and Dec turning up at the same gig but not make eye contact!”

Judi also pointed out that Harry's fiddling with his jacket button is a symbol of building a slight barrier between them.

We'd actually fold our arms over our torsos in actual life, but at a public gathering like this one, you will always see people performing truncated barriers, either carrying a handbag in front of their body or, like Harry has done here, fiddling with buttons or cuffs as an excuse to pull the arm up.

But there was a moment when Harry demonstrated “friendship ties” with sister-in-law Kate by leaning across Zara to summon Mike, and Kate smiled.

“This is repeated,” Judi observed, “but there seems to be no moment here when the once-so-close brothers even acknowledge one another.”

WHAT CAUSED THE RIFT?

Prince Harry was enraged when his brother William referred to Meghan as “this girl” at the outset of their relationship.

According to new excerpts from a book concerning Harry and Meghan's divorce from the Royal Family, the brothers had a chat.

According to sources cited in the book Finding Freedom, William told Harry, “Don't feel you need to rush this. Take as much time as you need to get to know this girl.”

In the words “this girl,” Harry detected a “tone of snobbishness” that was “anathema to his approach to the world,” according to the excerpts, which were published in The Sunday Times.