The Duke of Sussex displayed signs of ‘inner anxiety’ before his long-awaited reconciliation with King Charles, a body language expert has claimed.
However, after the meeting, Prince Harry’s ‘self-comfort anxiety rituals’ disappeared, indicating that the face-to-face reunion at Clarence House, London, went well.
Harry, 40, enjoyed a 55-minute tea with his father on Thursday, marking their first meeting in 19 months since the Duke flew to the UK to see Charles, 76, in February 2024.
Before the event, the husband of Meghan Markle visited the Centre for Blast Injury Studies at Imperial College London, where he was seen to constantly touch his stomach, chest, and belt area.
Body language expert Judi James has told the Daily Mail how the gestures indicate a person experiencing feelings of anxiety.
She said, ‘The stomach touch is a signature self-soothing gesture for Harry, who has been known to use it when he’s in a more ‘vulnerable child’ state.
‘His other belt and jacket touch rituals looked like self-comfort barrier checking gestures hinting at inner anxiety.’
Later in the day, Harry was spotted being driven into the royal residence in a black Range Rover at 5.20pm.
The Duke of Sussex showed signs of ‘inner anxiety’ before meeting his father at Clarence House on Thursday, a body language expert has claimed
‘His status and ‘adult’ signals were seen to increase in the car on the way to his meeting with his father, as though his confidence was building at the thought of seeing him again,’ James said.
55 minutes later, Harry emerged outside of Clarence House having met with his father, but in the time since, he has shown signs of relief, the expert claimed.
James explained, ‘The lack of self-comfort anxiety rituals since suggests he feels either relief or self-assured or both. It would imply the meeting went well.’
Harry’s signs of relief appeared to continue on Friday during his surprise trip to Kyviv, Ukraine.
The prince was joined in Ukraine by a contingent from the Invictus Games Foundation, including four veterans who have been through similar rehabilitation experiences.
The centre offers prosthetics, reconstructive surgery and psychological help free of charge.
Elsewhere, Prince Harry ‘loved’ being back in the UK and ‘catching up with old friends’ this week, his aide revealed.
Concluding his four-day trip with an event to highlight The Diana Award, yesterday a spokesman for the Duke of Sussex suggested he saw it as a success.
Prince Harry arrived for his surprise trip to Kyiv, Ukraine, on Friday, and showed different signs to before
Pictured: David Henson and Prince Harry during their visit to the Centre For Blast Injury Studies at Imperial College London
The Montecito-based royal was seen to repeatedly touch his stomach area during his engagements that took place before his meeting with Charles
On Wednesday night, the prodigal prince managed to secure himself a 55-minute meeting with his father, King Charles – the first in 19 months.
But his choice of final engagement – a charity both he and his estranged brother, Prince William, have been involved with over the years – only served to emphasise the gulf that remains between them.
Tessy Ojo, chief executive of The Diana Award, indicated she didn’t expect a joint engagement from them any time soon, saying: ‘You know what, people are fascinated about seeing them together. I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside them for 25 years and they’ve always done things separately.
‘The one time we brought them together was the 20th anniversary of Princess Diana’s death.’
Harry, she said, has been having meetings on a monthly basis over Zoom with Diana Award staff and has been to events in America. It was one of five events packed into what was dubbed a ‘pseudo royal tour’ for the Prince – and one clearly aimed at trying to reset his relationship with the British people.
The icing on the cake, however, was being driven into Clarence House for an almost hour-long meeting with his father. While those in royal circles say it was not a reunion per se, it is being considered a positive step forward.
There is no suggestion of any such thawing in relations with his brother, who had borne the brunt of many of Harry’s most vicious attacks on his family in recent years.
It is not clear whether he has any plans to return to Britain soon.
Pictured: The Duke of Sussex arrives on central railway station in Kyiv region, Ukraine, on Friday
Harry visited a makeshift memorial for Ukrainian and foreign soldiers at Independence Square Maidan in Kyiv on Friday
According to UK body language expert Judi James, Harry gesturing to his stomach is way of ‘self-soothing’
Harry is seen after arriving in Kyiv, Ukraine, where he presented new initiatives to support the rehabilitation of the wounded
However, his spokesman strongly suggested he was buoyed by how well he felt this one had gone, saying: ‘He’s obviously loved being back in the UK, catching up with old friends and just generally being able to support the incredible causes that mean so much to him.’
Harry spent around an hour on Thursday at what appeared to be a specially created event for him, talking to young people about mental health and social action. In an impromptu speech, he spoke about how young people can feel isolated if ‘lost and separated from a group’.
Harry also gave a warm hug to his father’s former press secretary Colleen Harris, who worked for Charles when he was the Prince of Wales, from 1998 until 2003.
She is now a trustee of the King’s Charitable Fund.
Afterwards, the Duke headed straight to the airport and now it has emerged that instead of heading back to Los Angeles, he went to Ukraine instead.
On Monday, Harry marked the third anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s death by privately laying flowers at her grave in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.
But he remained apart from William, with the Prince just seven miles away visiting a Women’s Institute branch in Sunningdale, Berkshire, in his grandmother’s honour.
Harry and Charles last met face-to-face more than a year and a half ago when the duke made a transatlantic dash to see the monarch on February 9, 2024, after hearing of his cancer diagnosis, but they spent just over 30 minutes together before the King left to recuperate in Sandringham.
Charles (pictured earlier this month in Scotland) had not seen his youngest son in person for 19 months before this week
Pictured: King Charles, the Prince and Princess of Wales, and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex attending the Christmas Day Church service at the Sandringham estate in 2018
The Duke, who stepped down as a senior working royal along with his wife Meghan Markle in 2020, does not carry out official royal duties on behalf of the monarchy and remains estranged from much of the Royal Family.
Harry claimed in his controversial memoir, Spare, that William had physically attacked him in a row over Meghan, and that his brother and Kate encouraged him to wear a Nazi uniform to a fancy dress party in 2005 and ‘howled’ with laughter when they saw it.
The Duke – who levelled other accusations at William, Kate and the King and Queen Camilla in his Oprah interview, Netflix documentary and his autobiography – told the BBC in May that Charles will not speak to him because of his court battle over his security, and he does not know ‘how much longer my father has’.
Harry is reported to have not been offered a place at a royal palace and is said to be staying at a hotel at his own expense.
The Duke has previously spoken of his hopes for a ‘reconciliation’ with his family, saying: ‘Of course, some members of my family will never forgive me for writing a book. Of course, they will never forgive me for lots of things.’
He added: ‘But you know, I would love reconciliation with my family,’ and said there was ‘no point in continuing to fight anymore’.
Senior aides to the King and the duke were pictured together in London this July in what was reported to be an initial step towards opening channels of communication between the two sides.
