As Prince Harry undertook his first UK engagements in several months, it has been noted Prince Harry’s body language differs when he attends events without his wife, Meghan Markle, a body language expert has claimed. The Duke of Sussex returned to the UK on September 8 to conduct a variety of charity initiatives and endeavours.
The Duke arrived at Heathrow yesterday and first headed straight to Windsor Castle, where he laid a wreath and flowers at the tomb of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. He then travelled back into central London to join a host of famous faces at the Royal Lancaster Hotel for the WellChild Awards.
Body language expert, Darren Stanton, spoke about how he finds Prince Harry’s mannerisms with and without Meghan Markle. Speaking on behalf of OLBG he said: “When Harry is with Meghan, he’s very conscious about looking after her. He wants to manage things and look out for her.”
He added: “But when he’s on his own, there is such a massive shift in his internal emotion. When we have these shifts, our blood either moves to or from our face, sometimes we can see people’s lips go either pale or red. But here, facially, he’s not blushing at all. His breathing is consistent. He’s a lot more animated with his hands; there are lots of open palm gestures.”
The expert further added: “When he’s at the podium, his hands are open which means he’s speaking authentically from the heart, with no nerves. When he’s on his own, he doesn’t have all these balls to juggle and he can relax.”
Darren noticed a brief shift when the Prince spoke at the podium during the award ceremony. He also believes Harry is “wanting and willing” to repair relations with his family.
He explained: “Although he’s confident there were moments of poignancy when he spoke about how much has changed since he first became involved in the charity. Deep down he misses his family, he makes reference to family elsewhere in the speech. This trip could be an opportunity for him to reconcile with the King, and it sounds like he wants to do that.
“Deep down there appears to be a wanting and a willingness to make things right and go back to the States having made some headway.”
Over the past two decades, WellChild has honoured 311 award winners and now has a team of 53 specialist nurses supporting children and young people with serious medical conditions and their families.
Harry told guests: “More than ever, WellChild’s mission must be our shared priority. Tonight, I’d ask each of you to think about how you can play your part, whether through support, awareness, or action, to help advance this crucial work.”
The Duke spoke after presenting the award for Inspirational Child 4-6 Years to Esmée, who was born prematurely at 28 weeks and has endured 35 surgeries, including four major operations on her brain, lungs and bowel.
Harry has attended the awards 14 times before and has held the role of the charity’s patron for 17 years.