Harry & Meghan's Body Language Is "Emotional" At Their Last Royal Appearance
Try to hold back your tears: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's last royal appearance before they transition to their new life took place on March 9 at Westminster Abbey for the Commonwealth Day service. The momentous occasion was a family affair with Prince William, Kate Middleton, Prince Charles, Camilla Parker Bowles, and Queen Elizabeth II all also in attendance. That being said, while Harry and Meghan won't officially stop using their HRH titles and receiving royal money until March 31, they still took a step back from the rest of the working royals during this particular event.
Commonwealth Day, typically held on the second Monday in March, is a celebration of the Commonwealth of Nations. It is marked by an Anglican service and a speech by the Queen. Harry and Meghan attended this same event in 2019. At the time, they waited for Her Majesty's arrival alongside the rest of the key royals and walked through the church together once she was ready. This time, they skipped waiting for the Queen with Will, Kate, and their other relatives. Instead, they were ushered to their seats. In other words, it looks like change is already here.
Traci Brown, body language expert and author of Persuasion Point: Body Language and Speech for Influence, examined six pictures of the soon-to-be Normal People from the event to understand how they might be feeling.
Harry seems super "stern."
"Harry's look is much more stern than we've ever seen from him," says Brown. "Lips closed, not smiling, maybe even showing a bit of anger or stress with his eyebrows pointed down towards his nose."
That being said, he's still totally in sync with his wife. "They're walking in step, side by side, which points to that they're a strong couple."
Also, please take a moment to peep their outfit coordination: "Isn't it neat how the lining of his coat matches her dress?" asks Brown. "Now, that's a together couple."
He's holding something back.
If you're not seeing how Harry's holding something back, Brown points your attention toward his face.
"This is where we see him holding back," she says. "See his lips sucked in across his teeth? That's the giveaway."
Harry seems to be having a harder time with this than Meghan.
"We see that same stern look and his habit of protecting himself from the press, playing with his jacket button," Brown points out.
Contrastingly, Meghan seems to be totally chill. "He's leading her at this point, and again, she's still her glowing self," says Brown. "This is harder on him than it is on her!"
But he had his relaxed moments here and there.
In this picture, Brown notes Harry seems to have finally "relaxed just a bit."
He could only hold back his emotions for so long.
"I think this is where we see his emotions leak out," Brown says. "Nobody looks down because they're feeling great. They look down when they're in some kind of negativity."
Of course, his sadness could be totally unrelated to the nature of the event. Body language can convey volumes about how a person might feel, but it can't pinpoint why. "Is he sad because it's his last event? We don't know," Brown notes.
She might have been picking up on his bad vibes.
In this picture, which Brown notes that Harry looks slightly more at ease. "[There is] less stress on his face and [he's] looking up," says Brown. "But notice how her smile has faded just a touch. Is she picking up on his energy? Maybe so!"
In general, this event seemed to be weighing heavily on Harry's shoulders. "This is quite a different demeanor than we've seen from Harry at any time in the past," concludes Brown after having examined all of the pictures. "Meghan seems just like her normal glowing self."
