Becca Monaghan
Jan 10, 2023
content.jwplatform.com
When Prince Harry sat down to delve into his new memoir, it inevitably caused a social media storm.
Some praised the Duke of Sussex, 38, for his "honesty and bravery" during his first TV interview about 'Spare', while others brutally branded the royal as "disrespectful, to the British people who funded his life".
Well now, a body language expert has weighed in on the candid conversation with ITV's Tom Bradby that took place on Sunday.
Judi James is a body language expert and author of 26 published titles, who worked on Big Brother for 16 years before launching her body language series, Naked Celebrity.
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While body language is not a precise science or an entirely accurate mind-reading trick, James described it as "the most basic form of communication for all animals and gives some strong clues and hints about someone’s emotions or feelings as they speak."
It is through this lens that Judi observed Harry during his discussion with Bradby, noting that over the course of their interview, the duke showed a "total tsunami of conflicting verbal and non-verbal signals, goals and emotions" and "performed in several different body language states".
At one point, Harry claimed to be the happiest he's ever felt – a statement Judi said she wished she could believe.
"This came after eighty minutes of signals of anger, resentment, fear and grief that all still looked raw," she pointed out. "You can imagine him leading his idyllic life in Montecito but then getting Meghan to 'hold my coat' on a regular basis as he pops off to defend them against the institution in the UK."
Prince Harry interview: Top moments from royal tell-allwww.youtube.com
Judi went on to suggest that the former senior royal "seems to be convinced by his own righteousness even when he is being contradictory", and, at times, some of his points "are confusing and contradictory enough to make me feel he was ghosting his audience."
"Sometimes he adopted a political air, swerving questions or re-directing to another topic. Several signals suggested anger and resentment, including a lower jaw jut or lip clamp and some stubbornness every time he referred to the ball being in [the Royals'] court," she said.
The expert also noted how Harry evaded giving a response when the presenter asked how his father and brother would feel watching the interview or reading his book.
"Instead of stopping for an empathetic view of the consequences of his interviews and book, which can be vital when anyone is hoping for a negotiated truce, Harry closed things down by saying 'I don’t think they will read the book’".
According to Judi, when discussions turned to his relationship with his brother William, the "child state" in Harry's body language appeared to have been triggered.
"He seemed to spontaneously revert to the kind of grins and laughter that he used to share when they were kids," Judi highlighted, though she picked up on the time-miming distancing gestures to "show how far apart they are" now.
Harry (right) and his older brotherGetty Images
His father Charles was said to evoke something "softer and more affectionate" in the duke, despite some of the comments regarding the Queen Consort Camilla, "who Harry seems to speak of without using her name, like his namesake and Voldemort."
While Judi argues that Harry's body language "does seem to agree with his spoken desire to get his family back," on the surface she suggests he "looks like a man keen to regain power, attention and presumably money."
"There was something tragic about this sense of having goals and objectives but pushing them further away as you reach for them," Judi suggested. "I would side with William when he was quoted as telling his brother, ‘I just want you to be happy, Harold.’
"I would love Harold to be happy and peaceful, but much of this interview looks like picking at the wound rather than healing it.
Judi added: "His argument would be that he is still being attacked".
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