Prince William "Relished His Freedom" During Kate Middleton Breakup, Body Language Expert Says

But he didn't do the best job...

Their Royal Highnesses Prince William (2nd R) and Prince Harry (C) and guest Chelsy Davy (2nd L) watch Rod Stewart perform during the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium on July 1, 2007 in London, England. The Concert falls on the date that would have been the late Princess's 46th birthday and marks 10 years since her death with an event headed by Princes William and Harry to celebrate her life.
(Image credit: Photo by Getty Images)

It's common royal knowledge that Prince William and Kate Middleton broke up around 2007, after several years of dating, and four years before their eventual wedding.

And even though it's been ages since then, the more nosy among us are still kind of fascinated by what exactly happened during their time apart.

Capitalizing on our inexhaustible curiosity, body language expert Judi James looked at an old clip of Prince William and Prince Harry dancing in the stands at the 2007 Concert for Diana, which has been making the rounds on TikTok.

For the expert, William appears to be trying to show his ex Kate that he can have fun without her—since she is a few rows back—but Harry seems to be trying to tell his brother that his dancing is embarrassing.

"This hilarious clip shows that it wasn’t always Harry doing the comedy moments in the royal Firm and that older brother William was quite capable of embarrassing Harry with some uninhibited dad-dancing," James told Express.

"William seems to be aiming this dancing at his brother, egging him on to join in while Harry appears to be deep in a more serious conversation with Chelsy, his girlfriend at the time.

"Kate was several seats back, probably thanks to the infamous 'break' with William that year."

James also points out that Harry's ex Chelsy Davy played a key role in the whole interaction.

"It looks as though it was Chelsy who brought William’s attention-seeking dance ritual to Harry’s notice," she said.

"Harry turns, straight-faced and his look is very much the look of a teenager whose dad is shaming them during a party."

It seems that Harry was trying to save William from "embarrassing" himself in front of Kate.

"He even wipes one hand on his trouser leg to mime sweaty palms and he points to Kate in a bid to get William to stop it," she said.

For the expert, all of this seems like evidence that William was trying to prove a point to his then-ex.

"There is the strong hint that William is trying to boast to Kate that he is relishing his freedom and is capable of having the most fun time without her," she observed.

"His elbows are raised in geezer mode and his neck-wobble hints at a touch of rebellion. It must have been the tiniest of swan songs before settling down with Kate though.

"As a signal of making the most of the single, free lad’s life it failed hilariously. Kate was there behind him all the time and he clearly wasn’t suited to this kind of body language ritual."

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♬ Maneater - Nelly Furtado

It's not the only time William has seemed aware of his embarrassing-dad ways: He once recalled the time he sang on stage with Taylor Swift and Bon Jovi while appearing on Apple Fitness+’s Time to Walk series.

Speaking about that once-in-a-lifetime experience, he concluded, "It’s OK to not take yourself too seriously and have those moments where you let go and you just go, 'Do you know what? I’m OK with this.' So, yeah, go on and have a laugh. And don’t go and watch the video of me singing. Or do go and watch it, but just laugh to yourself about how I was feeling."

Iris Goldsztajn
Morning Editor

Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Bustle and Shape. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.