Meghan Markle and Prince Harry recently appeared on TIME100 Talks and a body language expert examined their gestures.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry painted themselves as “deep thinkers” when asked about the possibility of holding political office. Both gave a poker face and were careful not to show their real feelings.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry asked about politics
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle appeared at the TIME 100 Talks where they were asked about holding political office. Body language expert Judi James examined how the royal couple reacted and said their reactions did nothing to dispel the rumors.
“Perhaps one of the most telling pieces of body language from the power couple came when they received an almost open invitation to pitch themselves for high political office,” James told FEMAIL.
The question came amid rumors that Meghan is planning to run for president. One of their guests promoted the idea of people getting “politically engaged and run for office themselves.”
“The couple’s response came after what looked like a time-delay of a few seconds before even Harry managed a poker-face option, applying an identical, enigmatic-looking rounded-cheek beam as his wife,” James said.
The rumors about Markle joining politics has been around for years. A group even created a website for her should she run for president. But a source close to Markle denied that she is eyeing the presidency.
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Couple introducing new gestures
Judi James described the couple’s reactions as heavily gesticulated throughout the discussion. She pointed out how Markle rested a hand beneath her chin while looking at her husband. Meanwhile, the duke stroked his beard and touched his chin in classic “thinking” poses.
According to James, their actions were new territory for the couple and it suggested they were “moving into more deep-thinking and intellectual waters” compared to the time they were in the palace.
“The chin-stroke or touch is a gesture often linked to a more intellectual approach and while Harry stroked his beard at one point, Meghan listened to him while adopting the gesture of resting her chin on the knuckles of one hand,” James added.
Sussexes mirroring each other
James also noted how Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had few moments of book-end mirroring. There were also moments of contrasting body language rituals. But overall, Markle gave the impression of firmness, calmness, caring, and delivering her views with minimal movements for distractions.
Meanwhile, Prince Harry gives the impression of a guy who is keen to get all the long chats over and do something physical to initiate change. In the end, James suggested that Prince Harry should tone down his movement. He seemed very concerned about how he was coming across and was self-correcting his appearance which upstaged while Markle spoke. Meanwhile, she commended the duchess because her calm listening style is more professional.
Image used courtesy of Office of the Governor-General / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)