Expert Points Out How Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Body Language Has ‘Morphed’ but 1 Aspect ‘Never Looked Compromised’
An expert examined how Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s body language has evolved over the years. The body language expert looked at the couple’s engagement photos from five years ago and compared the expressions and gestures to their most recent appearances.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s body language in their engagement photos conveyed love and support, expert says
Prince Harry and Meghan announced their engagement in 2017 and posed for photos at Kensington Palace’s Sunken Garden.
Body language expert Judi James shared her analysis of the Sussexes from those initial photos compared to more recent appearances, telling Express how the couple’s body language has changed.
“Harry and Meghan’s body language signals have grown, expanded, morphed to suit the extreme situations they have been through together, but then they have also magically come back full circle to where they started from with their engagement,” James explained.
She continued, “Their engagement poses showed firstly the love between them but they also hinted at how Meghan was in the role of support and encouragement for her husband-to-be.”
James analyzed Meghan’s interaction with Harry closely, uncovering the “compliant” and “maternal” signals in their engagement photos.
“Meghan portrayed Harry as a high-ranking, heroic figure, leaning her torso in towards him to look compliant, although also performing some subtler and more dominant nurturing and almost maternal body language signals to seem to help him through a challenging moment,” the expert explained.
James noted, “Harry’s relationship with the press was difficult, to say the least, but Meghan seemed to be encouraging him to get through the ‘spotlight’ moments. Her hand clasp involved a holding of the arm with her other hand and she used this gesture of emphatic bonding to perform small rubs and taps to steer the appearance and to reassure Harry, whose odd leg-hold here was part of a ritual of more anxious-looking gestures.”
Expert looks at the Sussexes’ body language at their Invictus Games appearances
James shared her analysis of Harry and Meghan’s body language during three recent appearances and pointed out instances where their gestures and expressions have changed since the engagement photos.
James first shared how their Invictus Games appearance this year “produced the ‘full circle’ body language effect of the couple going back to where they started.”
The expert pointed out, “So far they seem to have a trait that was shared by the late queen and Prince Philip of emerging with very similar body language signals as they did in the early days of their relationship.”
She also compared the appearance to the first time Harry and Meghan attended the Invictus Games with Harry “sporting a more alpha pose, with his shoulders and chest splayed to suggest comfortable confidence in surroundings he loves.” Meghan, according to James, “leans in using that double-handed hand and arm clasp that she used during their engagement poses.”
Expert says Prince Harry and Meghan Markle showed ‘bonding features’ at Platinum Jubilee
James noted that Harry and Meghan’s appearance at the Platinum Jubilee service at St. Paul’s Cathedral in June 2022 was brief but their body language was revealing.
“Harry’s body language showed how troubled he was about life within the firm and we saw long periods of this more dour facial expression both before he left the country and when he returned for events like this,” the body language expert explained.
She continued, “The bonding signals with Meghan were a constant feature though, like this hand clasp, and their touch rituals often seemed to be offering mutual support.”
James also noted how “Meghan clearly found it easier to put on a display of confidence and regal-looking smiles” during the appearance but Harry showed his feelings more outwardly.
The expert shared, “The feelings that never looked compromised though were those loving ones the pair shared.”
Meghan offered supportive gestures after the queen’s death, body language expert says
Finally, James shared her analysis of Meghan and Harry’s appearance alongside Prince William and Kate Middleton during their walkabout outside Windsor Castle.
“The queen’s death showed subdued signals from both Harry and Meghan although Meghan’s body language resilience, probably thanks to her acting skills, meant she pulled this occasion off with more visual ease than Harry,” she explained.
James added, “While Harry performed some self-comfort anxiety rituals, Meghan was on-hand with her small back pats and strokes to offer support and, again, encouragement.”
Showbiz Cheat Sheet acknowledges conditions and cultures can impact body language and is sensitive to all backgrounds.
