Prince Harry Shows ‘Sass’ With 1 Move in Netflix Documentary, Body Language Expert Says
A body language expert pointed out Prince Harry‘s “sass” when he spoke about his time in the military during the Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan. The expert said Harry displayed a “sassy” gesture when he said he went to war twice.
Prince Harry spoke about his time in the military
In the docuseries, Harry touched on his time in the military including his experience during two tours in Afghanistan.
“Working and living with normal people — and I fully appreciate that my life is not normal — certainly has an effect on you,” Harry said. “The bubble within the bubble that I was brought up in got burst. Ultimately I’m so grateful for it, and that was all before I met Meghan.”
He continued, “My 10 years in the army, it gave me the lived experience that other members of my family wouldn’t have had. Two tours in Afghanistan, flying Apache helicopters on a military base, means that you grow up pretty fast.”
Harry added, “Jeez, I went to war twice. The people that I met and the lifelong friends made, that was my second family.”
Body language expert shares analysis of Harry discussing his military experience
In his analysis for the YouTube channel The Behavioral Arts, body language expert Spidey looked at Harry’s first statement. He said he can “appreciate that my life is not normal” after mentioning “normal people.”
The expert said, “He is really good at autocorrecting — or kind of elaborating on what he needs to. And sometimes he does it for himself, sometimes he does it for Meghan where he says a statement and he immediately knows, ‘There’s going to be a way to spin this, I better correct that.'”
This moment illustrated Harry’s autocorrecting abilities perfectly. If Harry had ended his statement by referencing his experience with “normal people,” the expert said, it wouldn’t be very well received. “We would think it’s demeaning,” he explained.
Harry adjusted slightly by pointing out his life isn’t normal. “With that elaboration, he kind of makes us go, ‘Oh, right. It wasn’t demeaning to us. You’re just saying that your life is so far out of the ordinary that ours is kind of normal. It’s not an elite thing,'” Spidey said.
Prince Harry showed ‘sassy’ body language in the clip, expert says
Prince Harry’s body language included shrugging both shoulders and raising his eyebrows. Spidey said these gestures indicated Harry didn’t “know what else to say” or add to his statement.
When Harry referenced his experience in the military, he also performed a one-sided shrug. Spidey noted, “It’s very possible that he’s not that confident. He’s saying it but he’s not that confident.”
Spidey analyzed Harry’s tone and cadence, which showed no signs of hesitation. “It’s worlds different from when he’s stressed or unconfident or talking at the same time as Meghan,” the expert said. “There’s a lot of confidence here with this. I think his experience in the Army actually gives him quite a bit of confidence. His whole mood is very different.”
Harry gave a bit of sass at the end of the clip. “We end with something just beautiful with the body language,” Spidey said, pointing out how Harry extended his hand to the side as he said, “Jeez, I went to war twice.”
Harry’s eyes also fluttered in the moment. “It’s funny because Harry has this sass that comes out sometimes … I’m totally seeing it here,” Spidey explained. “That’s a very sassy kind of way to end this confident speech about his time in the military and it just got my attention. It was just interesting.”
Showbiz Cheat Sheet acknowledges conditions and cultures can impact body language and is sensitive to all backgrounds.
