Prince Harry mentioned that he sees some aspects of Princess Diana’s personality in Meghan Markle. He admires Meghan and he was drawn to some of the similarities he says she shares with his late mother. A body language expert says there’s one conflict that makes Meghan different from Princess Diana. Here is the observation the expert made.
Harry and Meghan didn’t appear ‘united’ according to a body language expert
Body language expert Bruce Durham analyzed the body language displayed by Meghan and Harry during their Netflix docuseries. He says one of the first things he noticed during the opening scene was that the couple didn’t seem to present a “united front.”
When Meghan and Harry are sitting on the couch next to each other, their body language is very different. Harry is relaxed and Meghan appears to be tense, according to the expert.
“The first part is really interesting here,” says Durham during his Believing Bruce YouTube commentary. “This is the docuseries that Meghan and Harry wanted to show the world. And you’d think they would put on a common front. And what I’m talking about is mirroring here. What we’ve got here is a lack of congruence. It’s an uncommon combination.”
Durham says Harry is sitting with his legs in a “splayed” position and his inner thigh is pointed toward Meghan. However, Meghan’s body language isn’t the same. According to Durham, she is creating a “barrier” with her body.
“What we don’t see is [Meghan] being open to Harry,” says Durham. “Her inner leg, the one next to Harry, is the one crossed over. We know that’s a barrier. In the very first scene, the moment when they should be presenting that front, Meghan’s limbic system, the autonomous part of the brain, straight away it shuts Harry off. That’s not common.”
Durham says Meghan has “closed herself off” by sitting this way. He finds this unusual considering the couple should be making an effort to appear united for the docuseries.
The ‘conflict’ that makes Meghan Markle different from Princess Diana, according to the body language expert
During the docuseries, Harry lists the ways Meghan is like Princess Diana. He says they share the same compassion for people among other similarities. “So much of what Meghan is and how she is, is so similar to my mom,” says Harry. “She has the same compassion, she has the same empathy, she has the same confidence. She has this warmth about her.”
Durham points out a “conflict” that demonstrates there are some ways Diana and Meghan are not the same. According to him, Princess Diana tried her best to make sure Harry and William were not constantly in front of the cameras. However, he says Meghan seems to be the “total opposite.”
“One bit of conflict when it comes to Diana and Meghan [is that] Diana was known for proactively, strongly, trying to get her and the kids out of the limelight and away from the cameras,” says Durham. “Whereas Meghan on this one aspect seems to be the total opposite.”
Durham says he understands Meghan is an actor so she’s “used to the limelight.” However, he says Diana tried to keep away from the cameras as much as possible. “When you look at that one aspect of the difference between Diana and Meghan, they couldn’t be more poles apart.”
Our take
Meghan might seem tense during the interview portion of the docuseries because of the presence of the cameras. This wasn’t a situation where she was acting for a show, so she might have felt like she was under a microscope at that moment. There are other scenes during the documentary that show Harry and Meghan displaying similar body language.
As far as Meghan and Diana, there might be some similarities, but Princess Diana can never be replaced. Hopefully, Prince Harry will find peace and fully come to terms with the loss of his mother.
Showbiz Cheat Sheet acknowledges conditions and cultures can impact body language and is sensitive to all backgrounds.
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