Meghan Markle ‘More Comfortable Alone’ Than With Royal Family, Says Body Language Expert

Meghan Markle appears to be more comfortable attending engagements by herself than with the members of the royal family.

Judi James, a body language expert, told Express that this may be because Markle used to work as an actress. As such, she regularly meets people in public.

“For an experienced campaigner and actress, it’s very likely that Meghan would find a solo appearance like this is a lot more comfortable than events when she is appearing with other members of the royal family. Even her choreography and role-definition with Harry would have required quite a profound body language change as she combined being a new wife and being a new royal, with all the accompanying demands of protocol and forging a seamless double act,” she said.

Overall, the body language expert said that Markle’s first solo engagement at the Royal Academy of Arts in London suggested that she was discreetly being wary of her new role as a member of the royal family. At one point, the Duchess of Sussex appeared to revert back to her Hollywood style behavior as a former actress.

“Meghan’s arrival and greeting rituals with her hosts saw her looking confident but also very natural. Even her brief wave to the press involved a backward-tilted hand and a widened-eye smile of genuine connect rather than anything more regal,” she said.

And just like the many royals before her, Markle also carried out the nose-touching ritual of the Maori.

“The Maori nose-rub showed very high levels of social confidence. Her thumb is clamping the handclasp between the pair as she leans in and she uses eye contact as she rubs noses. Her smile looks cute but it is a very adult smile with raised rounded cheeks rather than a more self-effacing, pseudo-infantile smile of social embarrassment,” she said.

But there was one moment during Markle’s first engagement that she appeared to almost forget royal protocol. Prince Harry’s wife raised her hand to touch the shoulder of the person she was talking to but quickly realized that she wasn’t supposed to do so.