A body language expert has offered insight into one of the "sweetest and most uncomplicated relationships" within the Royal Family.
Judi James analysed the close bond between Zara Tindall and his niece Royal Family, which has clearly lasted over four decades. She says the pair seem to treat each other with "unfiltered fondness", regularly greeting with a hug.
And although Charles recently became a monarch, Zara tends to treat him more as a uncle rather than a King "who commands only respect", she added.
The behavioural expert also praised the late Queen's granddaughter's ability to use spontaneous body signals, while also not overstepping the mark.
Zara greeting Charles in the Royal Box at the Royal Ascot in 2008 (Getty Images)Ms James told Express.co.uk: "One of the sweetest and most uncomplicated relationships in the Royal Family seems to be the one between Charles and his niece, Zara. Unlike many of the people in the King’s life, Zara seems to treat her uncle with unfiltered fondness and he seems to respond in kind.
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"Their public displays of affection (PDAs) are legendary and the body language signals suggest they are always led by Zara, who seems untroubled by protocol, status or even Charles’s customary avoidance of any touch rituals in public that go beyond a handshake. She seems purely keen to show everyone how determined she is to give this sometimes solitary and reflective man a hug."
Reflecting on Zara's personality and why she is able to be so "tactile" with the King, she continued: ""Zara is probably the most tactile member of the Royal Family and it must be her confidence and total lack of shyness or wariness that helps her create these moments of close proximity, eye contact and tender touch like hugs or kisses on the cheek.
"She will tend to take the more dominant role too, hooking an arm around Charles’s shoulders or neck and treating him more like an uncle in need of some tender loving care (TLC) than a King who commands only respect." Even though Zara initiates the hugs, Judi suggests that Charles is "delighted" by the action.
Charles, then Prince of Wales, speaking with Zara during last year's Royal Ascot (Getty Images)
Zara attending a charity polo match with her uncle in 2015 (Getty Images)She said: "Charles’s responses are always interesting. He seems to be surprised but also delighted by Zara’s more spontaneously loving displays and will often reciprocate the hug or return the eye contact and smile in a slightly more bashful but clearly happy manner.
"These approval signals are important because although Zara and her husband Mike tend to employ playful and spontaneous body language behaviours, they are also very adept at not over-stepping the mark. They do have a filter and they know how and when to use it. Zara would also show affection to the late Queen in public but she was much less demonstrative and used other ways than touch to get that affection across.
"With Charles upgrading from Prince to King, Zara might have felt the need to tone down some of her rituals accordingly. But Charles’s own signals of quiet approval have clearly let her know that it’s business as usual in terms of PDAs since her uncle’s Coronation."
Her comments come after Zara was seen making a peacemaker gesture to Prince Harry as she stopped to talk to him during the King's Coronation in May. The Duke of Sussex was walking into Westminster Abbey with his cousins Beatrice and Eugenie when Zara was seen to turn her back on the rest of the group she was with to say hello to him, after he was seen to mouth “hi”.
Zara, along with her husband Mike Tindall, are believed to be two of the few royals that Harry still has a close relationship with since deciding to take a step back from public life and move to the US.
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