Prince William's subtle gesture demonstrates Prince George's position in Royal Family

Prince William's subtle gesture at a recent royal engagement has demonstrated to royal fans that Prince George is ready to take on a new role in the royal family.

• Over the Easter weekend, Kate Middleton and Prince William led royals at the Easter Sunday service.
• The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were accompanied by their two eldest children, Prince George, and Princess Charlotte.
• In other royal news, see which royal stepped in to comfort the Queen on her first Easter without Prince Philip.

On Easter Sunday, members of the Royal Family attended a service at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. While at the service, Prince William and Kate Middleton showed some subtle gestures that indicated they were giving their son Prince George a little more space and independence. 

A body language expert, Judi James, decoded these gestures to The Mirror and explained that these subtle movements signal a big change for the Future King.

"The most powerful and historic non-verbal signal there is, without doubt, the lovingly performed ‘conscious uncoupling’ between William and his chip-off-the-block son George," said Judi.

"This was the first time we have really seen George walking between his parents as an independent royal. Normally he will automatically and very sweetly hold his father’s hand but here it looks like a conscious decision for him to appear more grown-up," continued the body language expert.

The body language expert continued to compare the way the Duke and Duchess interacted with their younger child, Princess Charlotte, and their eldest child, Prince George.

"It’s Charlotte holding her father’s hand while George walks between his parents with his arms swinging freely. The clue to the fact that this is a deliberate body language up-grade comes from the way William holds his free arm crooked so there are no hands dangling together between them," said the expert.

Judi added that this distancing was a lovely gesture from the royal parents, "It looks like a wonderful decision of both trust and love from Kate and William, who could easily extend the hand-holding to enable them to keep charge of any naughty behavior."

The expert added that the Duke and Duchess still ensured to check in with their eldest, even without holding hands, "Instead they appear to limit their ‘checking’ rituals with George to some gentle touches of encouragement on the back and one very fond hair stroke from William.

As the third person in the royal line of succession, it is clear that this decision from Prince William and Kate to not hold their son's hand was a way of demonstrating his transition into adulthood.  Prince George will be turning nine this summer, and as the Future King, he will be playing an increasingly major role in the Royal Family over the next few years.