Prince Harry and Meghan Markle put on a united front as they arrived for his keynote speech at the UN headquarters in New York.
The couple attended the event as Harry gave a sombre speech on the state of the world, where he discussed everything from the Ukraine war through to climate change and Covid, to mark Nelson Mandela International Day. "How many of us feel battered, helpless, in the face of a seemingly endless stream of disasters and devastation?" he asked at the two-hour-long informal meeting of the General Assembly plenary.
"This has been a painful year in a painful decade," he continued. Meghan was openly showing support for her husband before his important lecture, as she placed her hand behind his back to guide him forward while smiling warmly at guests.
Despite Meghan's warm and friendly demeanour, Harry was noticeably the opposite, as body language expert Judi James says that behind his confident delivery he was battling with some big emotions. She told The Mirror : "His style of delivery was more presidential than princely at the UN. His keynote was delivered in a somber, slow, authoritative style that pitched him as the expert.
"He didn’t back away from taking a ‘tell’ approach, even when it came to Mandela himself. [But] Harry’s underlying body language rituals suggested high levels of tension and anxiety underlying the confident and hard-hitting delivery."
According to Judi, both Harry and his father Prince Charles use 'barrier rituals' in a bid to self-soothe when speaking at public events. And Harry's was out in full force at the UN. She explained: "He arrived in the building performing a lengthy self-comfort/barrier ritual that involved a truncated gesture of appearing to button his jacket and he was still performing that truncated ritual once he stepped on stage and walked to the lectern.
"An unfulfilled gesture like this is all about the feelings of self-comfort rather than the action itself. Prince Charles pats his pockets and fiddles with his cuffs while Harry pretended to button his jacket, fiddle with his tie and pat his stomach. This allows both to raise their hands and arms in front of their torsos in a protective barrier, suggesting some nerves."
Judi also said Harry showed signs of being someone who was eager to get things wrapped up. On top of that, she noted Harry's uncharacteristic lack of humour, pointing out that the only smile the downcast royal cracked was for Meghan.
"His trait of bouncing slightly on his feet suggested impatience to get things done as he lectured on the African crisis, the Ukraine war and climate change," she said. This was a smile-free lecture from the man once dubbed the ‘joker prince’. Even when he mentioned Mandela’s smile and his ‘incredible shirts’ his facial expression remained serious and it was only when he described Africa as the place where he ‘found a soulmate in my wife’ that there was the faintest smile of recognition."
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