Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Netflix series Harry & Meghan is giving the couple an opportunity to tell their story. One body language expert slammed the docuseries for coming off as an overly dramatic rom-com, however.
The first episode of the ‘Harry & Meghan’ Netflix docuseries has a dramatic opening
The first three episodes of Harry & Meghan are now available on Netflix and the first episode opens with a bit of over-the-top drama.
Harry and Meghan each filmed themselves in March 2020 to document the end of their royal chapter. Harry took video of himself in the Windsor Suite at Heathrow Airport after he finished his final royal engagement before flying to Canada.
The episode opens with the text: “This is a first-hand account of Harry & Meghan’s story, told with never before seen personal archive. All interviews were completed by August 2022. Members of the royal family declined to comment on the content within this series.”
In his self-tape, Harry says, “Hi. So we’re here on Wednesday the something of March. We’ve just finished our two weeks, our like final push, our last stint of royal engagements.”
He adds, “It’s really hard to look back on it now and go ‘what on earth happened?’ Like, how did we end up here?”
Photos, newspaper headlines, and audio about the Sussexes’ decision to leave royal life flash on screen as he speaks.
Meghan filmed herself in Vancouver with a towel wrapped on her head. “H is in London and I’m here,” she says. “I don’t even know where to begin.”
Harry explains his concern about the safety of his family and Meghan notes, “I just really want to get to the other side of all of this.” She adds, “I don’t know what to say anymore.”
Harry comments, “This is a great love story” and shares the sacrifices they each made for one another as viewers catch a glimpse of their new life raising their children away from the spotlight.
Meghan seems speechless in her video diary, expert notes
Body language expert Judi James said the Harry & Meghan documentary kicks off with dramatic flair. She told The Sun, “Harry’s selfie diary clip makes him look like a survivor or witness to some disaster.”
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James continued, “His body language suggests he’s in deep shock, so much so that he can’t remember the day of the week.”
She noted, “His breathing suggests stress, his verbal fillers of ‘Um…’ signal confusion. He rolls his eyes and performs a tongue-poke which all suggest adrenaline caused by stress.”
James added, “As the piano trills loudly he says ‘What happened?’ like a survivor crawling out of a wreck.”
Similarly, James said, Meghan’s video diary leans toward drama. “Meghan’s diary is equally dramatic. Her hair is in a towel as though just washed and her left leg is bent and raised as though she was painting her toenails,” the expert explained.
Meghan picks at her nails and seems unable to find the words in the moment, even pausing for a significant amount of time. “She can barely speak apart from some sighs and pauses, like an actor that has dried on stage,” James said.
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Expert says Prince Harry and Meghan Markle ‘love story narrative sounds like a rom-com’
James also analyzed the couple’s retelling of their early days of meeting and dating, likening it to a rom-com. Harry and Meghan shared the story about how they met in 2016 with Meghan saying she was “intent on being single, traveling with friends, and acting at the time.
“I had a career, I had my life, I had my path,” Meghan says. “And then came H. Talk about a plot twist.”
James pointed out, “Their love story narrative sounds like a rom-com in the making, apart from the odd appearances of Harry being interviewed to camera growing increasingly angry, agitated and upset.”
The expert added, “Harry moves from man in love to man full of anger and resentment for the press, with his tearful body language undergoing a complete, linear mood change.”
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