Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were speaking with the youth leaders of the Commonwealth Trust recently and clips of this video call was shared online. A body language expert, however, observed that the Duke of Sussex was looking pretty much "like a hostage" during the video conference call.
According to Judi James, Prince Harry kept looking down at his notes like he "spoke down to the floor" during the video call. The expert said that Prince Harry appeared to be "trapped" because of the framing of the camera while next to him was Meghan, who had enough space to gesticulate as she spoke.
Further, when he said that the Commonwealth must examine its "uncomfortable" past, Prince Harry also looked uncomfortable in the video. The Duke of Sussex appeared to have so many thoughts running through his head while it was Meghan's turn to talk, so he also looked like he was distracted. His eyes were not fixed to focus on just one part.
James said that Meghan's skills at public speaking is better than Prince Harry. There are also instances when the Duke of Sussex tries to mimic his wife but he comes off as a "little over-thought."
However, by the end of the talk, James said that Prince Harry was able to take control of conversation by injecting his humor. Only then did the body language expert see the Duke of Sussex relax as he tried to make the young men and women he was speaking to laugh.
Viewers of the video also noticed the awkwardness in Prince Harry's actions. Some royal fans said that it was uncomfortable to watch Prince Harry because he didn't have good eye contact and gesticulated like he was nervous.
According to Daily Mail, it seemed like Prince Harry was aware of the words he was about to stay in public when he said that the Commonwealth must acknowledge the wrongdoings of its history, thus explaining the nerves. It hinted that British colonialism and slavery, or the empire where his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, descended from, has contributed to the social ills people have been protesting about today.
Critics said that Prince Harry took a swipe at the British empire and went against the protocol of royals not going political or taking a political stance. Tory MP Andrew Rosindell believes that Queen Elizabeth will be disappointed by what Prince Harry said about the Commonwealth's history.
