A Body Language Expert Says Prince Harry Is "Uncomfortable" and "Gearing for a Fight" in That Buzzy New Trailer
Body language experts, assemble! A new trailer for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's docuseries dropped, and this one is a whooooole new level of dramatic. And it involves Harry talking about his decision to distance himself from the royal family—so, naturally, the time has come to read into his body language. And the vibes are...uncomfortable.
First of all, take a moment to watch the trailer so we're all on the same page:
Kay, cool, now let's turn our attention to body language expert Judi James, who has a lot to say.
“We see Harry’s body language present in five different and apparently contrasting states in this short trailer," Judi tells The Sun. “First we have the Power Pose. Harry adopts a classic business person’s power pose as he says ‘I wonder what would have happened had we not got out when we did.’ His elbows are on the arms of his chair and his hands are lightly joined in front of his chin to create a bridging ritual, where his lower arms and hands form a bridge shape."
“His fingers in this bridge perform a confident metronomic gesture by tapping lightly. This all gives the impression of a high-status individual making an evaluation of a situation," Judi adds. "His thumbs are steepled in this light clasp, which is another power/status gesture. His chin is slightly raised and he seems to do a long blink. This makes him look authoritative.”
However, Harry then switches to a "less assured gesture" upon saying "I said we need to get out of here," and Judi notes that "his body language looks incongruent."
"On the one hand we have his index finger placed up against his cheek, which is another gesture of status and evaluation," she explains. "But his other fingers are placed over or in his mouth as he speaks. Covering your mouth to hide it as you speak will often suggest you’re not sure about your own words and putting them in your mouth hints you’re saying something you’re uncomfortable or unsure about sharing.”
We also see Harry grinning on his flight out of the UK (which is pretty self-explanatory), and when we next see him being interviewed he's giving off "persuasion" vibes. This moment comes when Harry talks about moving to the next chapter in his and Meghan's life.
“He is shown with a head tilt," Judi says, "which suggest a desire to be liked, and he uses a stacking gesture with both hands thrown to his left to mime or signal some moving of things into his past as he reveals his key reason for not just getting on with his idyllic new life: ‘In order for us to move to our second chapter we have to finish our first. He has used a similar thrusting of his hands to his left when speaking about William in the past.”
Finally, Harry's last body language moment ^ "looks all about gearing for a fight," Judi says, adding that "when he says it is ‘worth fighting for’ he rolls or judders his shoulders as though bracing or preparing for an actual fight.”
Damn, if body language experts are getting this much from a 1.23 second trailer, I am truly unprepared for what'll happen when the next three episodes drop on Thursday.
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