Expert spots sign King Charles was 'nervous' and 'under pressure' before King's speech

King Charles appeared to show signs of nervousness and that he was feeling "under pressure" ahead of the King's Speech yesterday.

The monarch, who attended alongside his wife Queen Camilla, delivered his his speech of a Labour Government for 15 years.

The King's Speech introduced 40 new Bills which will be set out by Sir Keir Starmer’s Government, all of which he hopes will be passed into law over the next year.

However, ahead of the reading of the King's Speech, body language expert Darren Stanton said that the 75-year-old appeared nervous and as though he was "feeling the pressure".

Speaking on behalf of Betfair Slingo, Darren explained that Charles "remained professional" but still "felt nervous".

The expert added: “When we first saw King Charles and Queen Camilla walking through, they wanted to remain professional and not give too much emotion away. Charles seemed to be a lot more serious and reserved than Camilla was.

"He had his arms by his side, with his head above his shoulders and walked with high levels of importance. He didn’t look around, he simply looked straight ahead. This tells us he didn’t want to feel distracted by anything.

"Charles was feeling the pressure. We know this as he was very careful with his body language and seemed to be feeling conscious of people watching him."

He further explained: "Charles went on to display a combination of nervousness and enthusiasm. He generally appeared in control of his emotions, which proves he was feeling confident with Camilla by his side. However, when we looked at his facial expressions, they did display signals of apprehension at some points."

Speaking of Camilla, who celebrated her 77th birthday yesterday, he added that she appeared more "calm and collected" than the King.

He said: "Camilla was calm and collected, she took it all in her stride. She didn’t show any signs of feeling nervous or unsettled.

"For Camilla, this was just another engagement and she wasn’t fazed by the pressure.

"We know this from Camilla giving a few more sincere smiles than Charles and her posture was more relaxed."

The tone in which King Charles delivered his speech has also been commented on, with Sky News's lead political correspondent Sophy Ridge taking to X to state that this is done to "show neutrality".

She wrote: "King Charles reading out the King's Speech in the kind of dull monotone you use when you're trying to get your kids to go to sleep when reading a bedtime story (which is of course deliberate to show neutrality)"

A few users agreed with Sophy, with one replying: "[That's] a very good description."