A body language expert claims Meghan Markle has reclaimed the "power" Prince Harry had over her at the start of their relationship. Judi James has shared how the royal couple's interactions with one another have changed since their engagement in November 2017 after watching them throughout the years.
She claims Prince Harry was "dominant to the point of arrogant" when visiting Cardiff Castle, Wales, just over five years ago when the newly-engaged couple made their first joint appearance.
But now says the couple's body language is "pretty evenly balanced". Judi told The Express: "Looking at Harry and Meghan's body language today, their power and status signals look pretty evenly balanced but possibly often weighed in favour of Meghan when it comes to confidence, experience and star quality."
In comparison, when they visited Cardiff Castle around this time five years ago, she said: "It is shocking to see how dominant to the point of arrogant Harry’s body language rituals were with the woman who he was newly-engaged to, on their first official visit to Cardiff back in 2018.
"Meghan was not a shy teenager back then, she was a woman in her thirties who had a career as an actress as well as years of experience as a campaigner and speaker on issues like womens' rights.
"Despite all that though, Harry decided to treat her like a puppet here, leading her, turning her, steering her and even grabbing her by the wrist with what looks like an air of impatience to get her to move along."
She claims Harry interrupted Meghan when she was speaking to those who turned out, claiming this is a "trait usually used by naughty children, not doting partners".
"They were clearly a couple very much in love but couples usually communicate in public via much more subtle tie-signs, i.e. small glances, pats or hand-squeezing gestures to signal when they need to leave an event or to turn to talk to somebody else," Judi added.
"Interruptions, pulling away or leading by the wrist should fall into the repertoire of an impatient or excited child.
"It was interesting to see the times that Harry also used child-like body language during their recent Netflix documentary, to elicit a more maternal response from Meghan - like the moment when he received a text from William and threw his arms up in the air, baring his entire belly, prompting Meghan to walk over to cuddle him round the waist."
Judi continued: "Harry’s gestures here and his non-verbal interruptions show his intentions are at odds with Meghan’s. She looks delighted to stop and talk to the fans, even signing an autograph at one point as though she’s on the red carpet.
"These moments were her forte and she appeared to enjoy a level of relaxed rapport that other royals (apart from Diana) are not really know for.
"Meghan was approaching the crowds on a one-to-one, personal and very human level, while the more regal Harry just looks driven by time and urgency."
Judi says Harry's smiles looked like "overkill rituals" as if he was trying to be polite under pressure rather than generally enjoying the moment, while Meghan's looked "more natural and more prompted by individual communications".
"For Harry this must have been a first glimpse into a potential future nightmare. Haunted by the fate of his mother as he was then and so clearly still is, the sight of his wife-to-be’s potential as a hugely popular royal star might have prompted some of these steering and leading rituals.
"For Meghan though this would probably have been more of a red carpet moment that she could have taken in her stride without Harry’s ushering.
"He has almost created a look of a conflict of intentions: Meghan is clearly keen to chat properly and meet these new fans and already-adoring crowds, while Harry appears to be trying to cut her communications short."
Judi added: "In terms of a fan base his gestures would have suggested Meghan is so instantly popular she needs the kind of urging and pushing along that PRs do on a red carpet event, but when it comes to signalling a grown-up status and power-balance, he is clearly acting like the one trying to be in control.
"It’s interesting to see how Meghan handles this and how much the tide has changed since then.
"As Harry places a hand on her back in what looks like another bid to usher his fiancé, Meghan responds in one pose with a reciprocal gesture, stretching one arm out behind Harry’s back, too.
"This looks like a subtle way to let him know that she doesn’t need or want quite so much ushering and that, as a champion of equality, she would also like a role in the choreography and steering."
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