Harry is 'like a child' while Meghan Markle is the 'dominant,' body language ... trends now
A body language language expert said Prince Harry conveyed a lot of intense emotions in the first episodes of his and Meghan Markle's explosive Netflix docuseries.
Expert Judi James told Femail the Duke of Sussex, 38, was 'full of anger' and still in 'mourning' over the death of his mother, as he sat down to talk to the camera in the much-anticipated show.
She added that he was also conveying a sense of anxiety and looked like a child as he discussed his first date with his wife, 41, who gently scolded him about being late and that he looked like he has an 'on-going' fear of losing Meghan.
Miss James also said he wasn't afraid to share his disbelief as he recorded himself in a raw selfie video taken from Heathrow Airport as he left the UK in March 2020.
Expert Judi James told Femail that the Duke of Sussex, 38, was 'full of anger' and still in 'mourning' over the death of his mother, as he sat down to talk to the camera in the first three episodes of Harry and Meghan's much-anticipated Netflix show
As part of their £88million ($100million) deal with Netflix, the privacy-conscious couple have handed over a trove of pictures and video from their relationship including the moment Harry proposed in 2017 and filming himself in the VIP lounge at Heathrow as he emigrated in March 2020.
The first three episodes contain a series of barbs that will upset his father King Charles III, including Harry's claim that he was 'literally brought up' by a 'second family' in Africa where he chose to spend three-month stints in his late teens and twenties as he came to terms with his mother's death.
Fear of losing Meghan
Judi said that she felt Harry looked like he has an on-going fear of losing his wife.
'Harry’s fear of losing Meghan looks on-going, suggesting the kind of intense love that includes high levels of anxiety,' the expert said.
She also added that he carried this anxiety in the dynamic of his relationship with Meghan.
'He almost looked like a child as they sat together during their interview, gazing anxiously at Meghan’s face as she scolded him for arriving late for their first date and even whispering in a naughty aside to the camera about how ‘she was late’ for their second date,' she said.
Meanwhile, the expert added that Meghan appeared to be the dominant and most confident side of the relationship.
'Meghan looked like the confident partner here, describing herself as having a "career" a "life" and a "path" adding "and then came H" with a tolerant eye roll and sigh as she pressed her lips together and shook her head to suggest how he had disrupted her free, fun and successful life,' she said.
The body language expert added that Harry was also animated by a lot of anger, disbelief and grief.
'We see Harry in four key body language and emotional states here and the wreckage clearly comes before the crash,' she said.
Judi also added that he carried this anxiety in the dynamic of his relationship with Meghan. where she is the dominant one, and he is like a child
She added that he was also conveying a sense of 'anxiety' and looked like a child as he discussed his first date with his wife, 41, who gently scolded him about being 'late,' and that he looked like he has an 'on-going' fear of losing her
Harry in disbelief
Judi commented on the selfie footage Harry recorded from the lounge at Heathrow Airport in March 2020, which appears at the beginning of the documentary.
'The documentary begins with its clickbait image of Harry talking into his phone in a diary selfie, showing all the non-verbal signals of a man who has just witnessed or climbed out from a terrible disaster,' the expert said.
'It is clearly intended to be emotionally raw and its portrayal of naked emotion makes it look like the kind of "intimate" video selfie that would normally be posted on video by celebrities and influencers,' she said.
Prince Harry opens the docu-series from Heathrow as he left the country and frontline royal duties in March 2020
She added the Duke of Sussex showed 'high levels of stress or anxiety; and 'signals of mental confusion,' in the clip;
'He can’t remember the day of the week. His breathing and his accelerated blinking suggest adrenalin-fueled stress. His verbal fillers and his pauses plus his tongue-poke gesture hints at denial and overall he looks like a man still in shock,' she said.
'He reveals he has just done his last stint of royal engagements but his "What happened?" makes it sound more like he has just been the victim of an accident or attack,' she added.
Mourning for Diana
Judi also added that Harry was not afraid of showing emotions of sadness in the docuseries, especially as he talked about his childhood and Princess Diana (pictured, while greeting mourners after her death)
Judi also added that Harry was not afraid of showing emotions of sadness in the docuseries, especially as he talked about his childhood and Princess Diana.
'Harry’s solo interview showed a man still mourning his mother and his own childhood,' she said.
'With his eyes aimed at the interviewer rather than the camera he described how his life became toxic thanks to the press.
'His body language became more assured and adult here as he drove home the message "I am my mother’s son" while also telling us how Meghan is "So similar to my mum".
'There were several moments of tears about Diana but they were heard in the breaks in his voice rather than seen on-camera,' she added.
A man full of anger
The way Harry rubbed his chin during his interviews and the way he crossed his legs in front of him betrayed that he felt some kind of anger
She also added that he wasn't afraid to share his disbelief as he recorded him in a raw selfie video taken from Heathrow Airport as he left the UK in March 2020
Judi added that the Duke of Sussex also let his anger show in the first three episodes of the docuseries.
'Harry’s signals of anger and suppressed rage or resentment began to leak as he spoke about the press hounding he’d endured as a child,' she said.
'His leg came up in a high cross barrier ritual to suggest isolation and a need for self-protection,' he added.
'He rubbed his chin with his index finger in another partial barrier that also mimed a preparation for a fight and after his eyes narrowed in angry emotion they widened and his brows raised to suggest a desire to rebuke and take control.
'His head baton suggested non-negotiable decisiveness,' she added.
Man in Love
Harry and Meghan kiss in the behind closed doors Netflix series. Harry says he made decision to marry Meghan 'with his heart' because he is 'his mother's son' and claims his wife being an American actress 'clouded' his family's view of her
A pregnant Meghan Markle with her son Archie resting on her bump in the new Netflix series released today
Meghan and Harry share a candid shot with Doria and Archie on his birthday as the privacy-conscious couple released a stream of family pictures and even texts and emails
Meghan said she was shocked at the formality of the Royal Family and showed how she bowed for the first time when she met the Queen
As the docuseries focuses on the early days of Meghan and Harry's relationship, the body language expert said that we were introduced to 'Harr the lover.'
'In a complete mood-change we are then shown Harry the lover, falling for his wife and completely smitten and over-awed that she should "sacrifice everything to join me in my world" as though she had stepped from a palace to live in his hovel,' she added.
Harry also describes a ‘huge level of unconscious bias’ in the Royal Family - with reference to Princess Michael of Kent wearing an offensive Blackamoor-style brooch in front of his wife at Buckingham Palace. There is also a suggestion that the UK is racist and more obsessed with race than the US, with Meghan declaring that she 'wasn't really treated like a black woman' until she came to Britain.
And in a swipe at the choice of wives by his male relatives, viewed as an attack on his father and other senior royals, perhaps even his brother William, Harry insisted that his decision to marry Meghan sets him apart from his family because it was 'from his heart' and not because she 'would fit the mould'.
The Duke of Sussex said: 'I think for so many people in the family, especially obviously the men, there can be a temptation or an urge to marry someone who would fit the mould as opposed to somebody who you perhaps are destined to be with. The difference between making decisions with your head, or your heart. And my mum certainly made most of her decisions - if not all of them - from her heart. And I am my mother's son'.
There will also be some aspects of the series that will likely anger Prince William, including his younger brother's decision to use a clip from their mother's BBC interview with Martin Bashir, which the Prince of Wales said should never be shown again after she was duped into taking part. Justifying the decision, Harry told his documentary: 'She felt compelled to talk about it. Especially in that Panorama interview. I think we all now know that she was deceived into giving the interview, but at the same time she spoke the truth of her experience'.
Meghan also hits out at the formality of the royals, describing meeting the Prince and Princess of Wales wearing torn jeans and bare feet. Discussing what happened, she said: 'I was a hugger. I've always been a hugger, I didn't realise that that is really jarring for a lot of Brits'.
She also admits to being baffled by the 'formality' of meeting the Queen for the first time, claiming she thought Harry was 'joking' when she learned she had to bow or curtsey and comparing her first meal at Windsor to a 'Medieval Times, Dinner and Tournament'.
The highly-anticipated series is being put out in two parts, with the first three episodes of the six-part docu-series now available to stream online.
The series contains tears from Meghan, who Harry repeatedly compares to Princess Diana claiming that both his mother and wife were being hunted by the press. Meghan also claims that as an American she found the 'formality' of being in the royal family 'surprising' - declaring that meeting the Queen for the first time was a 'shock to the system'. She said Harry had told her in the car: 'You know how to curtsy, right?' And I just thought it was a joke', she said.
They also discuss Princess Michael of Kent a Blackamoor-style brooch to a pre-Christmas event the Duchess of Sussex attended in 2017. She was forced to apologise. Harry said: 'In this family sometimes your part of the problem rather than part of the solution. And there is a huge level of unconscious bias. The thing with unconscious bias is actually no one's fault.'
Meghan adds: 'Obviously now everyone is aware of my race because they made it such an issue when I went to the UK. Before then. I wasn't really treated like a black woman'. Harry claims that his family had dismissed her when they found out she was an American actress - but he insisted he knew in his 'heart' he would marry her because he is his 'mother's son'.
In episode one, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex begin by filming themselves on the day they ended their royal duties in March 2020, with Harry in the VIP lounge at Heathrow as he flew to Canada. Meghan cries with a towel on her head as she declares: 'I don't even know where to begin'. Viewers pointed out this footage was captured six months before their $100million deal with Netflix was signed in September 2020.
The privacy-conscious couple have given extraordinary access to the streaming giant, including a treasure trove of pictures and footage from their private lives including of their children. There are also private texts and emails they shared at the time of their courtship. Meghan's mother Doria also speaks publicly about their relationship for the first time.
MailOnline can reveal:
The first three episodes also cover Harry's birth and upbringing and he blames the media for the failure of his previous relationships. The Sussexes then describe how they get together, their engagement and then quitting as frontline royals.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex discuss Megxit, racism and their new life in California. It also begins with a pointed comment that the Royal Family declined to comment on allegations in the show and reveals it was completed in August 2022 - before the death of the Queen.
Episode one begins with Harry filming himself at Heathrow Airport in March 2020 as he finishes his final royal engagements before emigrating. His wife, in Vancouver, breaks down on her bed as she says: 'I don't even know where to begin'.
The show opened with words written in white on a black background which said: '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.'
Harry and Meghan shared pictures of their courtship and their marriage together and with their children
Meghan cries on her bed in Vancouver as Harry leaves the UK after Megxit
Doria Ragland has spoken about her daughter relationship with Prince Harry for the first time in their new Netflix documentary
The show reveals the texts and emails between the couple as their relationship began as well as with a friend who set them up
Prince Harry, Meghan and Princess Eugenie (pictured together) party with Jack Brooksbank at a Halloween party the night before their relationship was revealed in the British press
The opening scenes of the first episode show an airport with a close-up of a departures sign while piano music plays over the footage.
It then cuts to Harry and words on the screen tell viewers he is in the Windsor Suite at Heathrow Airport in March 2020.
He appears to be filming himself speaking into his phone camera and 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.
'It's really hard to look back on it now and go 'what on earth happened'? Like, how did we end up here?'
As Harry speaks, images of the couple flash on screen, followed by newspaper headlines and broadcasters' audio from coverage about their decision to step back from royal life.
The first episode then shifts to what appears to be phone footage, filmed vertically, showing Vancouver Island, Canada.
Meghan appears with a towel wrapped around her hair, appearing to speak into her phone camera, saying: 'H is in London and I'm here.'
She shakes her head and says: 'I don't even know where to begin.'
The first episode of Harry & Meghan cuts to London in July 2016 and Harry can be heard saying that is when they met.
Meghan said another season of Suits was confirmed and she had plans to travel with friends having been 'single for a couple of months'.
The episode features an interview with Meghan's friend Lindsay Jill Roth, who says: 'In the summer of 2016 she had a few different trips planned and she was just going to be free.'
This part of the episode features photos of Meghan with friends including Jessica Mulroney.
Meghan said: 'I was really intent on being single and just have fun girl-time.'
Another friend called Lucy Fraser tells the documentary: 'She had planned her single-girl summer and she had a lot of plans of going around Europe.'
It cuts to Meghan who says: 'I had a career. I had my life. I had my path... and then came H.
'I mean, he literally, talk about a plot twist.'
Harry said he first spotted Meghan on a friend's Instagram.
He said: 'I was scrolling through my feed and someone who was a friend had this video of the two of them, it was like a Snapchat.'
An image of Meghan with the popular dog ears filter is then shown.
Harry said: 'That was the first thing. I was like 'who is that?''
Meghan said the friend then sent her an email, the words of which are typed out on the screen, saying: 'Between you and I thought you might want to know this being newly single and all. I put our Snapchat on Instagram and Prince Haz follows me (he's a friend) he called me last night dying to meet you. hehehe. I might just have to set you up' (sic).
Meghan's reply, which was also typed out on screen, was: 'Who is prince haz?????'
Below her reply viewers can see the words: 'Sent from my iPhone. Please excuse all technological mishaps. I'm a Luddite.'
Meghan said she asked her friend who had contacted her about Harry if she could see his social media feed.
Speaking in the first episode, Meghan said: 'That's the thing. People say 'did you Google him?' No. That's your homework... you're like 'let me see what they're about in their feed', not what someone else says about them, but what they are putting out about themselves.
'That, to me, was the best barometer. So I went through and it was just like beautiful photography and all these environmental shots and this time he was spending in Africa.'
Harry said they then got each others' numbers.
'We were just constantly in touch,' he said, adding that they decided to meet.
The Duke of Sussex has said his wife being an American actress 'clouded' his family's view of her.
Meghan, talking about meeting the Queen during episode two of their Netflix documentary, said: 'I didn't know what I was doing.'
Harry went on: 'I remember my family first meeting her and being incredibly impressed, some of them didn't quite know what to do with themselves.
'Because I think they were surprised. They were surprised that a ginger could land such a beautiful woman and such an intelligent woman.
'But the fact that I was dating an American actress was probably what clouded their judgment more than anything else at the beginning, 'oh she's an American actress; this won't last'.'
Meghan added: 'The actress thing was the biggest problem, funnily enough. There is a big idea of what that looks like from the UK standpoint - Hollywood - and it's just very easy for them to typecast that.'
The first episode of the Netflix series shows a barefooted Harry pushing Archie across the floor as he sits on a wheeled suitcase.
It cuts to Harry saying: 'As a dad, and as parents, I think consent is a really key piece to this.
'That if you have children it should be your consent as to what you share.'
It shows footage, filmed by Meghan, of her in a garden saying: 'Both the babies are down. Nice calm night. Just picking some roses.'
In an interview filmed for the documentary, Meghan says: 'The past six years of my life, books are written about our story from people who I don't know.
'Doesn't it make more sense to hear our story from us?'
The Duchess of Sussex said the media would find a way to 'destroy' her 'no matter how good' she was.
Episode two
