When King Charles wants to end a conversation, his secret signal is…

King Charles has a gesture to let staffers know it’s time to rescue him from a conversation.

The royal family meet and greet a lot of people on a daily basis. When most senior members of the royal family are busy with engagements and visits, they have to have a way to end conversations when they are around ‘chatty’ people. The late Queen Elizabeth II had a discreet way of doing just that using which she told her aides that she was done talking and they should rescue her. Funny, right?

King Charles III during a special industry showcase event hosted by the British Fashion Council (BFC) at 180 Studios, London. (Reuters)

But, wait. King Charles also has a gesture to let staffers know it’s time to rescue him from a conversation. Royal historian Hugo Vickers said that Queen Elizabeth would actually use her handbag to send cues to her aides. So if she wanted out of a conversation with someone she would usually move her purse from one hand to the other.

Body language and behavioral expert Darren Stanton revealed that the monarch also sends a signal to his staffers that he wants he leave a conversation.

Darren Stanton explained: “A move Charles tends to make quite a lot is he’ll scratch his nose. Just like the (late) queen had a signal with her assistants that if she had her handbag in her left hand and then switched it to her right that meant ‘Get me out of here!’ — Charles tends to reach for his nose when he is ready to move on from a conversation.”

King Charles’ late father, Prince Philip, also had a specific gesture and motion using which he used to get out of conversations. Prince Philip used a sweeping motion when he greeted crowds during walkabouts- swing his hand from left to right to show to staffers that he was done with the meeting.