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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Netflix documentary allowed the Sussexes to share their experience in the royal family. A body language expert believes Harry was being deceptive during one moment of the docuseries, based on a subtle combination of gestures and expressions.
Expert says Prince Harry appears ‘deceptive’ during 1 moment of the documentary
In one documentary clip, Harry is depicted in a cartoon drawing wearing a dog collar while Meghan holds a leash. “How predictable that the woman is to be blamed for the decision of a couple,” he said. “In fact, it was my decision. She never asked to leave. I was the one that had to see if for myself, but it’s misogyny at its best.”
In a video for The Behavioral Arts YouTube channel, body language expert Spidey analyzed this moment of the Harry & Meghan documentary. While the expert said he was “sympathetic” about what Harry was up against, he noted, “I do believe that he’s being deceptive about quite a few things here.”
Spidey shared that it’s hard to “know for sure that someone is lying” but shared “there are certain behaviors that happen more often in stress or when our mind slows down to make up something because telling the truth is much easier.”
He added, “When we see a lot of these behaviors happen at the same time, it’s called a cluster of deception and it just lets us know that we need to ask a few more questions. But it never says with certainty that someone is being deceptive.”
Body language expert analyzes Harry’s ‘cluster’ of behaviors
In this clip, the body language expert said he picked up some of these “cluster” behaviors. “I can’t guarantee you that this is deception,” he explained.
Spidey first pointed out the way Harry had his arms crossed, higher up, with one gripping the opposite arm. “This is more consistent with what we call a self-hug,” he said. “Usually it’s done more for self-reassurance.”
The body language expert noted that Harry’s crossed arms were “tighter” rather than relaxed in the moment. “It feels like a self-comforting hug,” he explained.
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Harry’s lip activity was also revealing. He did a quick lip lick, which “is very associated with stress,” followed by a lip retraction, where he pulled his lips inward. Spidey noted that this gesture is “consistent with withheld opinion, something we’re not saying” but is also a variation of lip licking.
Spidey also pointed out “another potential licking of the lips that might be hidden with an edit” and a fourth lip lick that was different from the others, as the tongue came out the side and was tenser than a typical lip lick.
“In this case, it’s not [relaxed.] It’s tense and it’s sticking out the side so it’s not exactly a lip lick,” Spidey explained. “That’s more consistent with something called a ‘tongue jut’ and this is something where the tongue tends to be a little bit more stiff and it pops out. We usually do this when we’re getting away with something or we almost got away with something.”
He also analyzed the way Prince Harry’s “blink rate is through the roof” as well as “little bursts of flutters,” which could be “consistent with stress.”
Spidey added, “We tend to associate this with stressful or deceptive behavior because the mind is being overworked and we’re seeing stress.”
Harry’s gestures could indicate deception but also may be stress, according to expert
Looking at everything together, the expert shared his take on Harry’s statement. “Personally, I’m not so sure that this was entirely his idea, that she had nothing to do with it,” Spidey said. “Maybe it was a bit of both, maybe she suggested, ‘Maybe we could get away from things or it’d be really nice to get away from things’ and then he was the one that made that decision … but I really don’t think that she had no part to play in this.”
The body language expert also admitted that perhaps Harry was just showing stress. “These clusters indicate a heightened probability of deception where we might want to ask more questions but definitely not certainty because it could just be stress and self-awareness.”
Showbiz Cheat Sheet acknowledges conditions and cultures can impact body language and is sensitive to all backgrounds.
