'Tense' Prince Albert of Monaco looks 'awkward' as he joins his 'playful' wife Princess Charlene in family snap that captures their twins' close bond with their mother even after months apart, body language expert says

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Prince Albert of Monaco appeared 'tense' as he tried to signal his position as 'family protector' while posing with Princess Charlene and their children in their Easter family portrait, a body language expert has claimed.

The couple were pictured with seven-year-old twins Princess Gabriella and Prince Jacques in their first appearance together since November.

Body language expert Judi James told FEMAIL that the Albert, 64, likely wanted to signal 'resilience and strength' but instead stood 'awkwardly' in the background. 

Judi pointed out that while Albert was not fully touching his wife, he placed his hand on son Jacques's shoulder as a 'gesture of parental reassurance'. 

Meanwhile Charlene, 44, demonstrated her 'loving bond' with daughter Gabriella, signalling how her relationship with her children has remained strong despite her spending months apart from her family.

Charlene first had a 10-month absence in her native South Africa, where she contracted and was hospitalised for a serious sinus infection that delayed her return to Monaco. After her return to the principality in November, Charlene left almost immediately to receive treatment for 'exhaustion' at a Swiss clinic. 

The photos were shared just days after Albert tested positive for a second time.  

Prince Albert of Monaco appeared 'tense' as he tried to signal his position as 'family protector' while posing with Princess Charlene and their children in their Easter family portrait, a body language expert has claimed 

The portrait, which was released just three days after Albert tested positive for Covid, showed 'relaxed' Charlene, 44, demonstrating her 'loving bond' with daughter Gabriella while Albert places a hand on son Jacques's shoulder as a 'gesture of parental reassurance'

The photos were shared by Charlene on her Instagram page with the message 'Happy Easter'

'Here, Albert’s tense-looking body position and facial expression suggest a desire to signal strength and to show himself as a protector of his family,' Judi, analysing the image.

'His body language looks rigid, from his incongruent smile to his part-kneeling, part-standing body position and his slightly puffed chest seems to signal resilience and strength.

'Albert’s splayed arms look like a partial, encompassing hug. His right hand reaches behind his wife without touching but his left is firmly on his son’s shoulder in a gesture of parental reassurance.

'Charlene and her daughter look much more relaxed together, posed in a very loving hug. 

'The daughter leans into her mother’s lap with a look of natural affection and rapport, looking happy for the cuddle. Even their head tilts and smiles look mirrored to suggest close, loving bonds.' 

Pictured: The last time the family were pictured together was in November 2021 in Monaco

The portrait marks the first time the Monaco royals have been seen together as a family since Charlene returned to the principality following her treatment.   

She faced a variety of health problems, including what the palace has previously referred to as a 'state of profound general fatigue'. 

The Monaco palace has consistently denied media reports of a rift between Charlene and the principality's ruler Prince Albert, who were wed in 2011, following the princess' long absence.  

'She was clearly exhausted, physically and emotionally. She was overwhelmed and couldn't face official duties, life in general or even family life,' Albert told People magazine in November.

Zimbabwean-born Princess Charlene was hospitalised after collapsing in September in South Africa, where she had been living for several months. 

'This family pose is similar to the pose they first adopted when Albert took the twins to visit their mother in South Africa', said Judi. 

Judi James noted the image had the same forced, awkward feel as the family photos taken in South Africa last year, including the one above 

Pictured: Princess Charlene of Monaco was finally reunited with her husband Prince Albert and her children Twins Jacques and Gabriella after three months apart in August 2021

'Back then it was accompanied by some ‘over-kill’ poses of intense affection rituals between Charlene and Albert, with her emotional, clinging hugs and head-pressing rituals looking anything but reassuring.

'Here though we have a similar grouping to the family photo taken in SA, with Charlene sitting on the ground with her children, looking playful and tactile as Albert poses awkwardly in the background.'  

She underwent surgery in October for an ear, nose and throat infection after checking in under a pseudonym in a Durban hospital, a palace source said at the time. 

Friends previously told Page Six that the mother-of-two 'almost died' while she was in her home country, while her husband spoke out to say she is suffering from 'exhaustion, both emotional and physical'. 

A palace statement released on December 23 revealed Albert and the couple's children were planning to visit Charlene during the Christmas holidays, as well as asking for the family's privacy to be respected.

In Charlene's absence, Albert continued to perform royal duties with their twins Jacques and Gabriella. Pictured, with their aunt Princess Caroline during the Sainte Devote Celebrations in January

It added that the princess 'is recuperating in a satisfactory and reassuring manner, although it may take a few more months before her health has reached a full recovery.' 

Princess Charlene met Prince Albert in 2000 during a swimming competition in Monaco and the pair married in 2011, before welcoming twins Gabriella and Jacques in 2014. 

Charlene returned to her husband and twins Jacques and Gabriella in November following almost a year in South Africa. 

While on a solo charity trip to the country, she contracted a severe sinus infection which prevented her from travelling. She subsequently needed surgery to treat the medical condition, which again delayed her return to Monaco.   

In the weeks after her arrival, Charlene remained absent from public duties. 

Albert later revealed the family reunion had gone 'pretty well' in the first few hours, but it then became 'pretty evident' that Charlene was 'unwell.'

Albert was pictured attending Prince Philip's funeral service alone in Westminster last month

He said the former Olympian 'realised she needed help', adding: 'She was overwhelmed and couldn't face official duties, life in general or even family life.'

Albert explained: 'I'm probably going to say this several times, but this has nothing to do with our relationship. I want to make that very clear. These are not problems within our relationship; not with the relationship between a husband and wife. It's of a different nature.'

He went on to tell a magazine her current state was a result of 'several factors which are private'.

Albert continued: 'She hadn't slept well in a number of days and she wasn't eating at all well. She has lost a lot of weight, which made her vulnerable to other potential ailments. A cold or the flu or God help us, COVID.' 

He said it is 'not cancer-related or personal relationship issue' and later said she is suffering from 'exhaustion, both emotional and physical'.

He later confirmed Charlene has been admitted to a treatment facility for undisclosed medical issues, as she works through a period of ill health. The location of the facility was not confirmed, though several sources claim it is in Switzerland.

However friends of the princess spoke out to suggest the issues were more physical than Albert appeared to suggest. 

Speaking to Page Six, a source described as the royal's friend said: 'It is unfair that she is being portrayed as having some kind of mental or emotional issue. 

'We don't know why the palace is downplaying that she almost died in South Africa.'

The source explained the royal had a severe ear, nose and throat infection, which resulted in 'severe sinus and swallowing issues stemming from an earlier surgery'. 

Elsewhere friends of Princess Charlene gave Tatler a rare insight into what the royal is really like, insisting that the former swimmer is a force to be reckoned with. 

One source rubbished any public perception that Charlene is 'naive' and trapped in an unhappy marriage with Albert, saying: 'I don't for one second think she did not know what she was doing when she married him.' 

But one warned the mother of Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella, seven, is not the type to be blindly controlled by the Monaco royal household.

'Charlene is no Princess Di.' one said. 'She may come across as being extremely naïve, but nothing could be further from the truth. She is very good at keeping her smarts under wraps.'

Doubts about the central relationship of Monaco's royal family are not new. 

Several residents living in the narrow medieval alleys of Monaco Ville confirmed to MailOnline that before she left for South Africa Charlene was spending most of her time outside the Palace, living in a modest two-bedroom apartment above an old chocolate factory about 300m away, rather than in the 12th Century Palace itself.

'We often saw her outside the Palace and she would usually be alone or with a bodyguard,' said one source, 'but she was never with Albert - it was obvious she chose to spend most of her time in the apartment rather than the palace.'

Princess Charlene met Prince Albert in 2000 during a swimming competition in Monaco and the pair married in 2011, before welcoming twins Gabriella and Jacques in 2014.

Born in Rhodesia- a previously unrecongised state in Southern Africa colonised by the British, she relocated to South Africa aged 11.

She had a successful swimming career and went on to win three gold medals and a silver medal at the 1999 All Africa Games in Johannesburg, as well as representing South Africa at the 1998 and 2002 Commonwealth Games and winning a silver medal in the 4 × 100 m medley relay in the latter competition. 

However the pair's marriage has made numerous headlines over the years, with a third paternity suit emerging in December 2020. 

Soon afterwards Charlene famously shaved half her head in the style of a punk rocker. Months later she left for South Africa.

The allegations in December 2020 claimed that Albert had fathered a love-child (which would be his third, if proven) with an unnamed Brazilian woman during the time when he and Charlene were already in a relationship.

He has also fathered two other children outside of wedlock. Jazmin Grace Grimaldi, who is now 29 and the result of Albert's affair with an American estate agent, and Alexandre Coste, 18, whose mother is a former Togolese air hostess.

Both children were struck off Monaco's line of succession in return for vast financial settlements.