Prince Harry’s Body Language at Recent Event Shows ‘He Doesn’t Believe What He’s Preaching,’ Expert Says
Prince Harry faced some backlash after he spoke at the BetterUp live stream event about mental health and the importance of self-care. One body language expert analyzed Harry’s appearance and thinks he “doesn’t believe what he’s preaching.”
Prince Harry said he suffered ‘burnout’
Harry is the chief impact officer for BetterUp, a mental health and coaching platform. He participated in the Feb. 3 virtual Inner Work Day conference with BetterUp’s co-founder and CEO, Alexi Robichaux, tennis champion Serena Williams, and a variety of experts.
During the discussion, Prince Harry said he has suffered burnout in the past and discussed how it’s important to do “inner work” for mental health.
He also shared his perspective on learning from life’s bad moments. “Life is about learning right? If you’re in your 20s, your 30s, your 40s, and even your 50s and you think you’ve got it sorted then bad stuff is going to happen,” he said.
Harry continued, “But when bad things happen I think, ‘There’s a lesson here, I’m being schooled by the universe, there is something for me to learn.'”
He added, “Next time it happens, I’m going to be more resilient and can see a way around it to achieve the ultimate goal. Every single bad thing — or the things you perceive to be bad — that happen can actually be good.”
One body language expert called Prince Harry ‘tone-deaf’
While Harry faced criticism for his claim that he has faced burnout in his life, one body language expert took it a step further and analyzed Prince Harry’s gestures at the event.
In a video on his YouTube channel The Body Language Guy, expert Jesús Enrique Rosas explained that Harry’s gestures were revealing. “When you thought that Harry could not be more tone-deaf and absurd, he talks about burnout from work and having to deal with hard days,” Rosas said. “But his body language reveals that he doesn’t believe what he’s preaching to everyone and also, his true intentions.”
The body language expert first focused on the confusing statement Harry made about making time for meditation. “Most people will sit there, listen, and go, ‘That’s fantastic but I don’t have the time,'” Harry said. “Well, the good thing is, you can make time.”
Rosas pointed out the absurdity of Harry’s statement. “So you’re telling me that if I don’t have time, I just have to go and … make time?”
He continued, “I’m sincerely wondering, what have we been doing all these years without such an amazing source of enlightenment?”
Harry said that he devotes “half an hour or 45 minutes in the morning … either for a workout, to take the dog for a walk, get out in nature. Maybe meditate.”
Harry’s hand gestures weren’t ‘natural to him,’ according to the expert
Rosas shared that Harry’s “delivery is so artificial,” which is accentuated by his gestures. According to Rosas, Prince Harry’s “body language was all over the place” and it appears he’s “trying too hard.”
Harry’s hand gestures are particularly interesting. “His hand gestures have mostly the same amplitude and he’s desperate for emphasizing every single word with them,” the expert pointed out.
He added, “You can spot that these energetic gestures do not come natural to him because, more than once, his wrists are limp.”
This gesture is the opposite of “someone trying to express themselves with energy,” according to Rosas. When Prince Harry’s wrists are limp, it indicates a “drop in energy.”
Rosas also pointed out how this is different from Harry’s past body language. “These kinds of gestures are not natural to him,” the expert explained.
