The day we've all been waiting for is
finally here: Meghan Markle married her prince — actually,
the Duke of Sussex — at St George's Chapel. The whole world watched ... and
cheered ... and wept. The ceremony was full of under-the-breath comments from Harry (we
caught 'em), Princess Diana tributes, and lots (and lots)
of body language.
"Prince Harry is living the story he's
dreamed up his entire life," Susan Constantine, human behavioral expert
and author of The Complete
Idiot's Guide to Reading Body Language told
GoodHousekeeping.com. "Same goes for Meghan Markle. In every moment, you
can see that they're totally mesmerized with one another." As they should
be.
The grand spectacle of it all, including Meghan's family drama, didn't get in the way
of their love. Better yet, even though Harry was riddled with nerves, he still
embraced the moment — well, his bride.
"This is a high
anxiety moment for Harry yet he's still being spontaneous and affectionate
toward Meghan throughout this formal occasion," Patti Wood, body language
expert and author of SNAP: Making the
Most of First Impressions, Body Language, and Charisma told
GoodHousekeeping.com. "He touches and bites his lip
as a way to hold back his emotions (a.k.a tears) and soothe himself in a
stressful situation." Makes sense to us.
And when the choir
started singing "Stand By Me," Harry comforted his soon-to-wife with
a gentle stroke of the hand. Ugh, our hearts.
But his emotions truly took over when his
late mother's sister Lady Jane Fellowes read the Song of Solomon.
"You can see Harry's hands are in a downward steeple," Wood
explained. "This is merely his way of pulling himself together during an
understandingly difficult moment."
In this moment, he also turns toward his
bride, indicating that he wants to be connected to her while he keeps his
emotions at bay. "Meghan, on the other hand, is focused on
formality," Wood told us. " You can tell she's received royal
training due to her erect posture but overall she's exhibiting strength and
grace."
Their hands prove to be the real indicator
of their emotions. While reciting their vows, Harry presses his thumbs
down into Meghan's hands.
"In this moment, she's reaching her
hands out farther to be close to him but he's giving her strength through his
thumbs," Wood told us. "This is his way of saying 'I got you.'"
How sweet!
When Prince William
and Kate Middleton recited their vows seven years ago, things looked rather
different. For starters, they didn't hold both
hands (protocol, perhaps?). "More importantly, Kate stretches her hand
over to Will, indicating that he's in charge and she will follow him wherever
he goes," Wood explained.
After officially saying "I will"
— their version of "I do" — Meghan and Harry stepped out of the
chapel as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. "She's
overjoyed by this surreal moment and he's totally smitten with her,"
Constantine explained. "They're truly connecting with one another and
their upward-turning smiles are proof that they're totally smitten."
Once again, the couple is holding hands —
and dropping serious clues about how they're feeling."Beyond their mutual
eye contact, when the couple kissed they turned their shoulders very close to
one another, which signifies that they want to be close even in such a public
moment," said Wood. "In fact, no one would question if their
shoulders were a few inches apart ... but clearly that's not what's important
here."
When Will and Kate
made their official entrance as a married couple on the balcony of Buckingham
Palace, they also had the same sweetness in their eyes (ah, love!). But their
intimate moment is more about formality than anything else. "You can tell how
genuinely happy Kate is just by looking at her face, but it's also evident that
she has not lost sight of being appropriate and formal with her posture,"
Wood said. But with the knowledge that Kate is likely the next Queen, we can totally understand why.
Here's the truth:
Both weddings
were full of pure, genuine love — that's the goal, isn't it? Both experts agree
that the world hasn't seen a love like Harry and Meghan's in a long time (well, since 2011) — and we couldn't agree
more.
Link to article: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/entertainment/a20759162/prince-harry-meghan-markle-body-language-royal-wedding/
Patti Wood, MA - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com.
