Body Language Expert Says Prince Harry Uses ‘Distancing Technique’ While Discussing Princess Diana in New Interview
In his Jan. 8 ITV interview with Tom Bradby, Prince Harry recalls the death of Princess Diana and how he and Prince William greeted royal fans who gathered to mourn his mother. A body language expert looks at Harry’s “distancing technique” when discussing Diana during the interview.
Prince Harry recalled walking outside Kensington Palace following Princess Diana’s death
During the ITV interview, Harry recalled shaking the wet hands of mourners who had gathered following Diana’s death. Harry, who was 12, and William, who was 15, joined then-Prince Charles to view floral tributes and greet fans who came to pay their respects.
Harry vividly remembered that people’s hands were wet and realized it was the result of them wiping away their tears.
“Everyone knows where they were and what they were doing the night my mother died. I cried once at the burial. I go into detail [in Spare] about how strange it was and how, actually, there was some guilt that I felt and I think William felt as well by walking around the outside of Kensington Palace,” Harry explained.
“And there are 50,000 bouquets to our mother. And there we were, shaking people’s hands, smiling. I’ve seen the videos. I’ve looked back over it all. And the wet hands that we were shaking — I couldn’t understand why their hands were wet,” he said.
The Duke of Sussex explained, “It was all the tears that they were wiping away.”
He noted, “Everyone thought and felt like they knew my mum and the two closest people to her — the two most loved people by her — were unable to show any emotion in that moment.”
Expert analyzes Prince Harry’s body language during interview
Body language expert Judi James provided an analysis of this interview moment, telling Express what Harry’s gestures and expressions revealed.
“Harry begins with a sideways move of the eyes and the faintest, weak smile of bravado that is a common gesture when people are talking about personal tragedy,” she explained.
James continued, “His eyes roll upward when he says ‘I cried once’ and in this cut-off ritual and the mouth grimace that accompanies it, with the lips stretching horizontally baring the lower teeth, we can see a real response of pain at the memory.”
The body language expert said he “employed a distancing technique” while discussing the somber memory and said he approached the matter with a “professional” tone.
“As Harry talks about the effect of his mother’s death when he was a child he seems to suggest the memory is still too raw for him to immerse himself,” she said. “Harry becomes almost professional here, talking almost as though he is a therapist talking about a patient.”
James explained, “He gesticulates with his left hand in a ‘conducting’ move that seems to be a ploy to keep it professional rather than dissolving into emotion.”
Harry talks about sad moment like a ‘verbal outsider,’ expert says
James also picked up on the interesting way Prince Harry addressed retelling the sad memory. “He also talks about himself and William as a verbal outsider, making him sound more like a ‘talking head’ commentator on a documentary rather than someone sharing first person,” she explained.
James noted that Harry seemed to be “suppressing or avoiding a more emotional response” when he talked about how he and William couldn’t show any emotion.
“‘The two people who were most loved by her were unable to show any emotion’ is Harry’s soundbite and it is a very powerful, poignant one but worded and spoken like a commentator rather than ‘we were unable to show any emotion,’” she noted.
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