Prince Harry usually appears happy to step back and let wife Meghan shine in the spotlight – but according to one expert, his mask slipped during one of the couple’s joint outings
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have conducted multiple joint interviews since they quit the royal family back in 2020. And many onlookers have pointed to the fact that Meghan will often take the lead during those appearances, speaking over her husband on occasion, and seemingly more comfortable in the spotlight.
The majority of the time, Harry seems perfectly content to sit back and let his wife shine. But critics have highlighted one event when his mask seemed to slip and he appeared visibly annoyed by Meghan’s interruption.
At the time, the couple were taking part in a roundtable discussion during a 2023 visit to Marcy Lab School in New York City to promote education and mental health. A clip from the outing shows Meghan repeatedly talking about the importance of education while Harry struggles to get a word in.
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According to body language expert Judi James, Meghan uses visible pats, strokes or steering gestures to send messages to Harry in public.
‘”Meghan is clearly the more engaging and compelling speaker, which means that what we also see here is her taking over from Harry to then raise the pace of the communication; add energy, and to speak in a more powerful, engaging way,” she told the Daily Mail. “This can feel like a criticism to the person being interrupted.”
And it’s when Meghan speaks over him for a second time, that Harry’s annoyance becomes more evident, according to Judi.
“We can see Harry’s body language collapse like a souffle, and she holds her hands out to speak while he is in mid-flow again as she takes over with her dominant word: ‘education’. This is where she ups the pace and the energy to engage and take the attention from him to her.
“Harry’s response here is a cut-off ritual where he touches his nose, effectively hiding his facial expression and response. We can see he looks down though, stretching and then pursing his lips,” Judi explains. “The way Harry closes down and then appears to detach from the conversation when Meghan interrupts makes the interruptions look worse here.”
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It comes amid confusion over Harry’s reunion with his father for the first time since February last year during a four-day trip to London last month. The pair spent around 50 minutes together over tea at Clarence House.
Details of the meeting with his father were published in The Sun, with the newspaper claiming that Prince Harry was “surprised by the formalities” of their reunion, which was described as “awkward” and akin to an audience with dignitaries and official visitors.
The Duke was said to have described the meeting as “very official, like an official visit”.
Details were also published of the gifts exchanged, including a framed photograph of Archie and Lilibet.
The Sussexes responded by claiming that people were trying to “sabotage” the reconciliation by casting their meeting in a negative light. A source said: “The quotes attributed to [the Duke] are pure invention fed, one can only assume, by sources intent on sabotaging any reconciliation between father and son.”
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Friends of Prince Harry believe palace aides leaked details about the meeting to try and sabotage his chances of returning to the UK more often by making it appear that he had shared the information with journalists.
But, according to the Telegraph, there is genuine bemusement at the Palace, with aides insisting that all involved would love to see the Duke on good terms with his father, not least the King himself.
They believe Harry’s team leaked the details of their meeting and, as such, the two parties are at a stalemate.
One well-placed palace source insisted that it was not quite back to square one for the Duke, but added: “It’s certainly not helpful though.”