Body Language Expert on How Meghan Markle Helped ‘Nervous’ Prince Harry ‘Through’ Their Royal Wedding: ‘She Was the Strength’
A “so patently nervous” Prince Harry had Meghan Markle “reassuring” him during their 2018 royal wedding. According to a body language expert’s analysis, the Duchess of Sussex showed zero “nervousness” at the St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle ceremony. Instead, she radiated confidence and “strength,” helping the Duke of Sussex “through it.”
Meghan Markle didn’t show even the ‘smallest sign of suppressed anxiety and nervousness’ at her royal wedding
During her royal wedding on May 19, 2018, Meghan impressed body language expert Judi James with her “strength.” Wearing a custom Claire Waight Keller for Givenchy gown, Meghan walked down the aisle to Harry, where the pair exchanged vows.
“Meghan was amazing,” body language expert Judi James said at the time (via Yahoo! News). Walking up the aisle by herself, I looked for every smallest sign of suppressed anxiety and nervousness – there was absolutely nothing.”
“I think she probably saw it as her role to help Harry through it rather than the other way round,” James explained. “She sat with her hand over his for quite a bit of the service as though she was reassuring him.”
“To me,” James added, “she was the strength when it came to the day and the actual performance.”
Meghan demonstrated confidence giving Harry a ‘100% eye gaze’ during their vows
A “so patently nervous” Harry, whom James noted did approximately 12 self-touching body checks within moments of exiting his car, got some reassurance from Meghan. She took charge, giving Harry a “100% eye gaze” at the royal wedding.
“The love that was emanating out of Meghan’s eyes really helped him quite a lot,” James said. “Even her blink rate hadn’t got quicker so there was nothing – even in the smaller details – that showed nervousness.”
The expert went on to compare Meghan’s hands to that of a “ballet dancer” during the exchanging of the vows because they were so steady.
Meanwhile, Harry and his brother, Prince William, who, as it turns out, wasn’t the best man, had a “role reversal.” In the moments before the ceremony, William shot Harry “a lot of reassuring smiles to calm him down a little bit,” James said.
“It was quite unusual and sweet to see him in that mode because normally at royal events he is the joker in the pack and making everybody else laugh,” the expert explained. “But this one had knocked him sideways a little, probably more than he was expecting.”
What Harry and Meghan remember from their 2018 wedding
The couple discussed their 2018 nuptials in Netflix’s Harry & Megan docuseries. For her part, Meghan admitted to feeling surprisingly calm.
“On the day of our wedding, it’s like I went into a really calm space,” she said in the six-part docuseries. “I don’t know how I was so calm. I look back at that: How was I so calm?”
As she walked down the aisle to music Harry selected, Meghan remembered “thinking: ‘Just take a deep breath and keep going.’”
“The whole thing was surreal,” she added, recalling how her father-in-law, King Charles III, met her halfway down the aisle. “But it was at that moment I could also see H.”
As for what went through Harry’s mind, he remembered thinking to himself, “‘Look at me, look what I got. Look what I found,’” as Meghan joined him. “The world was watching us, but when we were actually at the altar, as far as I was concerned, it was just the two of us.”
May 19, 2023, marks Harry and Meghan’s 5-year wedding anniversary.
Showbiz Cheat Sheet acknowledges conditions and cultures can impact body language and is sensitive to all backgrounds.
