Meghan Markle Did Not Return Prince Harry’s Loving Gestures During Appearance, Body Language Expert Claims
Article Highlights:
- Where Meghan and Prince Harry stopped on their trip
- What a body language expert revealed about Harry’s gestures and Meghan’s “power”
- The Duke of Sussex displayed some behavior indicting he may have been nervous
Meghan and Harry made multiple appearances during trip in NYC
Some of the stops on Meghan Markle and Prince Harry‘s New York trip included visiting youth at the PS 123 Mahalia Jackson school in Harlem where the duchess read her children’s book to the students.
The couple also toured One World Trade Center and the 9/11 Memorial with New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, and attended a meeting at the U.N.
Their other appearance while in the Big Apple was at the Global Citizen Live concert in Central Park. The prince and former Suits star spoke at the event about vaccine equality.
Body language expert breaks down Meghan’s ‘new solo power’
Body language expert Judi James watched clips and studied photos from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s trip and revealed what she thought about their actions noting that Harry’s nice gestures toward his wife “weren’t returned.”
“There was a new air of solo power and influence about Meghan’s body language during her ‘adventure’ in New York,” James explained to The Express. “The shy-looking young bride clinging to her husband’s arm in the U.K. had gone and in her place were signals of resilience, determination, and confidence.”
James continued: “[Meghan’s] red outfit echoed the more corporate look we saw in her poses for Time magazine. Walking ahead of Harry here she looks fully in CEO mode and she even carried a file in her arm closest to Harry to set a more business like tone. Her walk was brisk and she looked like a woman on a mission. As they posed for the press Harry performed his signature back rubs and eye gaze but the gesture wasn’t returned as Meghan held her eyes to the cameras with a more serious expression. Even when Harry offers a hand as she navigates the stair in heels she looks determined to make the descent free from any help.”
Their PDA was less and Harry may have been nervous
James did, however, acknowledge that the Sussexes had a number of PDA moments but said those were “less constant than when they were doing royal tours.”
“Here they looked less vigorously bonded together. Even when Meghan took to the stage in a white shift dress that could have signaled a return to the romantic double-act she stood on stage with her mic clutched in her right hand. Looking passionate about her cause as she performed her solo words,” James noted. “The crowd screamed approval when Harry referred to ‘my wife.’ This prompted a PDA where Meghan placed her head on his shoulder as they clasped hands. These rituals showed the love and the intimacy is still very much alive in the marriage. But Meghan has earned her ‘most influential’ tag and her body language suggests she is taking it very seriously.”
James also told the publication that she thought that the prince seemed particularly nervous on this trip and looked to Meghan for “reassurance.”
According to James: “Harry, in particular, performed some jacket-touching rituals and barrier gestures to suggest he was slightly ill-at-ease in front of the press cameras and some of his small touches, like the steering gesture on Meghan’s back and the back-touches inside the venue, as well as a couple of glances and words to her as they posed, suggested either a need for or a need to offer reassurance. Meghan’s lack of response on one occasion suggested that first-outing nerves might have been affecting her too. Apart from some small smiles and low waves to the fans though the couple looked unusually awkward for most of the poses.”
