Meghan Markle appeared more reserved during a visit to the European Parliament in Brussels on Tuesday, body-language analyst Judi James said, as Prince Harry delivered a keynote address on children's online safety after the duchess withdrew from a planned speaking role.
The Nov. 10 engagement was Meghan's first public appearance since her estranged father, Thomas Markle Sr., was arrested in Florida four days earlier. He faces one federal count of possessing child sexual abuse material, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. He has denied the allegations.
A spokesperson confirmed before the Brussels visit that Meghan would accompany Harry but would not speak. An unnamed source told The Telegraph that she did not feel emotionally strong enough to deliver an address. The couple did not publicly explain the change.
Speaking to the Daily Express, James focused on Meghan's restrained smile, her movement to touch her hair and her decision to place her left hand fully inside her coat pocket.
"Her eyes normally sparkle when she's in public, but that amused and excited look has vanished here and some of the photos suggest a more reflective state," James said.
James interpreted those gestures, together with Meghan's tightly tied black coat and raised collar, as suggesting vulnerability and a desire for protection. Those assessments are subjective: clothing and brief movements cannot establish someone's emotional state or explain its cause.
Harry and Meghan arrived holding hands, with the duke walking slightly ahead. James described his posture as protective and interpreted his downward gaze and a brief touch of his beard as possible signs of wariness.
The appearance marked the opening of the Lost Screen Memorial at the European Parliament's Paul-Henri Spaak building. The installation, first launched in New York in 2025, commemorates children who died following online harm.
Meghan sat in the front row during Harry's speech and later placed a hand on his arm. Harry framed their attendance around their responsibilities as parents rather than political or professional authority.
"I'm not here as an expert or a politician. I'm here as a father. My wife, as a mother," he said.
He urged technology companies to build stronger safeguards and challenged the argument that parents alone should be responsible for protecting children from harmful platforms.
"We cannot keep blaming children or their parents for responding to systems deliberately designed to hold their attention," Harry said, according to the Sussexes' official website.
Harry also described bereaved parents waiting years to access their children's phones because of company privacy policies, leaving them unable to obtain information about the circumstances of their deaths.
Meghan embraced Sandra Spitaels, a Belgian mother whose 15-year-old son, Glenn, died by suicide in 2017 after an intimate image was shared online. Spitaels became tearful while addressing the gathering and appealed for quicker removal of harmful material.
"Technology moves in seconds," she said. "Children need protection at the same speed."
