Prince William Receives Support From Stepmom Camilla Following Kate's Photo Controversy, Expert Claims

Prince William returned to his royal duty a day after Kate Middleton's Mother's Day controversy.

On Monday, the Prince of Wales attended the annual Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey along with the other royal family members. He joined Queen Camilla, Princess Anne, Prince Edward and Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh.

Judi James, a leading communication and body language expert whose expertise is sought after in broadcast, corporate and public relations circles and who regularly appears on BBC News, Sky News, GB News and CNN, weighed in on the Duke of Cambridge's first public outing with his family. According to her, the royal family appears supportive of the heir apparent, especially his stepmother, Queen Camilla.

"When Camilla joined them though it looked as though it was William showing support for her," James told Mirror before speaking about the mutual support between King Charlres' wife and eldest son.

"Breaking away from the group, he performed an eyebrow-flash greeting of pleasure and delight before holding an arm out to hold her arm for a cheek kiss. Camilla reciprocated the partial hug, and the pair retained the touch for a second or so longer than necessary in a micro-signal of mutual support."

James also pointed out that the other royal family members present at the event showed the same support for Prince William. All seemingly brushed off the photo controversy.

"Anne, Sophie and Edward were all wearing invincible smiles to suggest all is well, although when William walked to join them, his own body language rituals did suggest he was retaining an air of confidence and even authority," James continued.

"He stood with a confident leg splay and even bounced slightly on his heels to imply enjoyment. He kissed Uncle Edward on either cheek and patted him on the arm in an expression of gratitude," James finally said.

On Sunday, Kensington Palace released a family photo of Middleton with her and Prince William's three children -- Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5 -- to mark Mother's Day. However, the Associated Press issued a "kill notice" after learning that the image was "manipulated." Several agencies, including Getty, Reuters and the AFP, also removed the photo from their website.

Middleton has since apologized for the "confusion" over the image. The Princess of Wales admitted that she would "occasionally experiment with editing" just like other amateur photographers.