Prince William has faced battles within the Royal Family, and also externally, in recent months – but according to a body language expert, it has brought him closer to his loved ones

It’s been a difficult year for Prince William – but he appeared to be wrapped in love at Royal Ascot as his relatives packed on the PDA.

The heir to the throne attended the royal event on Wednesday alongside his mother-in-law Carole Middleton, his cousins Princess Eugenie and Zara Tindall, and stepmother Queen Camilla. With his wife Princess Kate continuing her recovery and his father King Charles also taking it steady after they both received cancer diagnoses, William was left to appear solo.

But according to body language expert Judi James, the Prince of Wales was surrounded by strength and unity, and had the support of his loved ones, following both internal and external ‘wars’ within the Firm. William was spotted enjoying a ‘warm’ relationship with Camilla, embracing his special bond with Zara and rejoining forces with Eugenie.

Zara was seen doting on William, while Kate's mum Carole looked on

Touching on the newfound public displays of affection, Judi told the Mirror: “Ascot has always been an event where the royals have tended to allow their more formal body language rituals to drop or loosen – but only by a few inches, and usually prompted by those gloriously tactile royals Zara and Mike, who always hand out life-affirming hugs at all levels of the royal hierarchy.

“This season though, there has clearly been a wholesale outbreak of PDA that has revealed the softer, more caring and empathetic side of a family normally known for their cooler body language displays toward each other in public.” She noted that this newfound softness has come after a difficult time within the Royal Family.

The expert noted the PDA resembles the kind you see ‘after a battle has been won’

She said that despite internal frictions, the royals ‘have each other’s backs’

“This touching, hugging, kissing and then subtler checking and clothing-adjusting touches resemble the kind of tribal animal behaviours you see after a battle with a rival tribe has been won,” she explained. “It re-affirms the strength of the bonding within that group, despite the fact that there have been internal battles going on prior to the ones with their rival group. They are letting each other know that, despite internal squabbles, they have each other’s backs in a real war.”

Judi said the royals’ dramas with Prince Harry – from him stepping down from official working royal duties to releasing his memoir Spare, and his tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey – “actually caused internal frictions and fissures in the Firm that threatened to split it more”.

Judi explained the royals’ latest ‘enemy’ is cancer, as both King Charles and Princess Kate recover from diagnoses

But more recently, the war has been between the royals and cancer, with Kate and Charles both diagnosed with the disease this year. Judi said: “The royals have been under attack from a new, more potent ‘enemy’ though in the shape of Charles and Kate’s illnesses and that seems to have produced a desire to not just re-convene and show unity but to reaffirm those bonds publicly via these tactile behaviours.”

She explained that the body language acts displayed at Ascot were ‘authentic’ and genuine, and not simply for public display. Judi added: “They are congruent and authentic bonding rituals, too, not the kind of show-pony behaviours we get treated to when warring royals are told to play together nicely. These look like an authentic coming together and rounding up of the wagons in the face of recent anxieties.”