A couple of weeks after Meghan Markle and Prince Harry got married in 2018, the new Duchess of Sussex took part in a documentary exploring Queen Elizabeth’s role as a figure on the global stage. In the two-part ITV series about the monarch’s role as head of the Commonwealth, Meghan reunited with her bridal gown and veil ahead of it being placed in an exhibition at Windsor Castle later that year. A body language expert took a look at the footage and spoke about Meghan’s reactions.
Meghan laid a powerfully symbolic gesture on the day of her wedding, and as a surprise to her husband-to-be, she had Commonwealth flowers woven into the fabric of her veil. This moment in the documentary was the first time Meghan had seen her dress since her wedding day.
Speaking to Hannah Belcher, a conservator from the Royal Collection Trust, Meghan walked into the room and said: “My goodness! It’s amazing, isn’t it? Wow, beautiful! Somewhere in here there’s a piece – did you see a piece of blue fabric stitched inside?”
Hannah said she had not come across any blue fabric and Meghan added: “I hope it’s still in there! It’s my ‘something blue’, it’s the fabric from the dress I wore on our first date.”
The silk veil was 16-feet-long and the elaborate floral decoration took 500 hours to embroider. Each flower represented one of the 53 nations of the Commonwealth and Meghan spoke about this design idea.
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She said: “I’m sure they’ve told you the thinking behind including some sort of representation of all 53 of the Commonwealth countries – which is key. And it was the designer’s idea to do wild flowers, which I think ended up a really beautiful way to embody the countries.
“I think also, as well, with Harry’s role as Youth Amabassador for the Commonwealth was so important for us to have the spirit of inclusivity at our wedding.” Hannah replied: “It’s a very touching gesture to have them with you. It was an important day for all those countries.”
“I stuck in a couple of flowers that were important to me as well, personally. There’s a California poppy which has nothing to do with the Commonwealth but means something to me,” Meghan added.
Hannah spoke over her and said: “Oh? It has something to do with you,” and Meghan turned away before remarking: “It’s ours. Feels like it’s all of us.” And the conversation then moved on.
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Body language expert Jesús Enrique Rosas watched the clip and commented on Meghan’s body language signals in one of his latest YoutTube videos. He claimed: “What was fascinating was being able to spot all the facial clues that reveal her true feelings about the wedding dress, and by extension royal life and duties. Remember, we need many body language clues to reach a conclusion.
“Right off the bat when she walked in, that smile is not genuine, not much emotion or interest in being that smiley. Her eyes have no emotion. She keeps walking and gives her hand.
“It is possible sometimes to see the expression of people [from their side profile],” he added. When Meghan looked at her dress, “her eyebrows [were] raised”.
Jesús “moved on” and noticed Meghan’s “expressions lacked a bit of intensity”. “It’s something in her eyes – we have seen Meghan’s genuine smile, we’ve seen her smile genuinely countless times and this isn’t one of those times. Right from the start she wasn’t engaged.”
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Jesús noted an “odd smile” which he believes to be part of Meghan’s “baseline” body language. “She presses her upper teeth onto her lower lip, if you try to smile like that it’s not comfortable.It’s not a genuine smile because you need to use so many of your face muscles to smile like that on purpose, and usually a genuine smile, you don’t need much effort when you truly feel joyful or happy.”
When watching the moment Meghan discussed her ‘something blue’ element, Jesús suggested Meghan gave a “forced” facial expression which described as being “unnatural”. The expert added: “That’s the problem when you try to come out as friendly when you don’t have that intention.”
After mentioning “Harry’s role as Youth Ambassador for the Commonwealth”, Meghan’s “mask slipped” according to Jesús and she no longer “tried to come [across as nice]”
The expert suggested “something triggered” Meghan’s “mask to slip”, and suggested it was when Meghan and Hannah discussed the specific flowers included in the design, and the California poppy was mentioned.
Jesús said: “Meghan mentions the poppy and the woman she’s talking to doesn’t acknowledge it, doesn’t give it any importance, she keeps talking about the composition of all the veils.
“Since this woman didn’t react, we might reach the conclusion that upset Meghan.
“Meghan leaned her head towards the woman [when discussing the California poppy], like telling a secret, trying to find a confidante in the woman or some empathy.” And when she didn’t get a big reaction or response, Meghan turned away and looked in the other direction and the conversation moved on.
Jesús spotted Meghan blinking rapidly and then as they discussed something else, she became “restless” and started playing with her hair and flipping it from either shoulder.
“It looks like she’s talking through her teeth, she is getting restless,” the expert said. Her face is “neutral, I think she was bored at the moment and has this defensive gesture” referencing Meghan putting her hand to her neck and leaning her chin on her hand.
Jesús Enrique Rosas is a Body Language expert and Persuasion consultant. His YouTube channel, The Body Language Guy has 557k subscrubers. He has written a book; Body Language in 40 Days, where he helps people learn what “postures, gestures, attitudes, voice tones, distance between people, facial expressions mean”.
Jesús, alongside a team of other experts conducts masterclasses in body language analysis for Knesix Insitute. Most recently he has spoken about different interview techniques to detect lies, 12 nonverbal communication examples and how to become aware of body language signals.
