This time, the debate reignited with a layer of body-language analysis. Speaking for OLBG, expert Inbaal Honigman described a king caught in a split-second bind. Charles, she said, gave a forward gesture—likely intended as a cue to stand fast—but as the president moved off, the monarch’s micro-adjustments betrayed tension. He smoothed his tie (a classic self-soother), kept his hands slightly taut, and hovered between two choices no host relishes: correct a guest publicly and risk awkwardness, or absorb a breach of choreography and let the moment pass.
Honigman’s read cast Trump as largely oblivious to the hitch—confident he was doing precisely what the moment required—while the king tested subtle fixes. At one point, Charles edged to place himself between the president and the Guard, a quiet attempt to re-center the frame. When Trump shifted again, unintentionally blocking that effort, the king took the simplest path through the tangle: he laid a guiding hand on the president’s back. The touch landed like a diplomatic reset, the kind that turns a miscue into a planned pivot. By the time they turned back toward their seats, Charles had eased into the lead once more.
