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Body Language Expert Says Meghan Markle Had an 'Emotional Shift' While Discussing Prince Harry

It's quite telling

meghan duchess of sussex hero
Jemal Countess/Getty Images for TIME

In the past, I've seen Meghan Markle conduct candid interviews with stars like Serena Williams, Mindy Kaling, Issa Rae, and Mariah Carey for her Archetypes podcast. But now, the spotlight is on the Duchess of Sussex as she opens up about her career, her family and life after stepping back from the monarchy in her first-ever podcast interview.

The royal recently appeared on The Jamie Kern Lima Show, and the tell-all 90-minute talk, which went live on YouTube on Monday, has already garnered plenty of reactions from royal fans. However, body language expert Darren Stanton made some interesting observations while watching the mother of three talk about her husband, Prince Harry.

Stanton noted that she initially appeared "fairly relaxed," but then he noticed a brief "emotional shift" in the former Suits actress when she discussed her early relationship with Prince Harry. 

Speaking on behalf of Betfair Casino, Stanton recalled, “There was a nice moment when Meghan spoke about her current relationship with Harry. She comes across as open when talking about personal matters, and seems happy to talk about her relationship with Harry and the interactions between them. Essentially, when she is being open and honest, she does seem to be fairly relaxed and doesn’t appear nervous about giving away personal details, which is what came across at that point in the interview.”

He continued, “When speaking about her early relationship with Harry, it seems like Meghan is masking some of her emotions. She is lacking the key signs of genuine emotion, such as crow’s feet at the corners of her eyes and full facial engagement. This could be due to Meghan feeling slightly uncomfortable about the line of questioning, making her expressions more performative than heartfelt.”

Meghan Markle

Stanton also noted an increase in her blink rate—a common sign of nervousness and discomfort. He explained, “When she refers to being ‘in the trenches,’ there is a clear increase in her blink rate. A sudden change in blink rate is often a subtle but telling indicator of an emotional shift. In this case, it likely reflects a moment of self-awareness. While it was clearly just a throwaway comment, she’s aware of how her words could be perceived and interpreted, which causes her blink rate to increase.”

Considering the chaos and media scrutiny that Markle and her husband experienced in the past, I can understand the slight shift in body language. Fortunately, the royal couple are now thriving and happy.

While chatting about their romance, the duchess told Lima, "I mean, H, that man loves me so much. And look what we've built. We've built a beautiful life and we have two healthy, beautiful children. I always think about it like the end of Super Mario Brothers, when you get to the final level, and what's the goal in Super Mario? They're like, 'Slay the dragon, save the princess.' I'm like, 'That's my husband.' He's going to do whatever he can to make sure that our family is safe and protected and we're uplifted."

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