Body language expert analyses Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at NBA basketball match
Meghan Markle gave husband Prince Harry a playful “no means no” when he tried to kiss her on the big screen during an NBA game, a body language expert said today.
Judi James has analyzed video of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex appearing on the jumbotron at the Crypto.com Arena for the Los Angeles basketball game.
Harry leaned in for a hug last night, but Meghan rejected his efforts, with Ms James saying his wife’s rejection was so cleverly executed it looked like flirting.
She told MailOnline that “despite his double-head flick to her lips, it was his wife’s decision that left him with a comical grimace of regret to the fans.”
Ms James said ‘no’ seems to have meant ‘no’ to Meghan, but her ‘eye contact with Harry elicited a very flattering ‘look of love’, facial expression softening response’.
FLIRTING NO MEANS NO: Judi James said ‘no’ seems to have meant ‘no’ to Prince Harry
MEGHAN’S LOOK OF LOVE: Judi James said Meghan’s ‘eye-engage’ evoked a ‘look of love’
COMEDY GRIMACE: Harry had to “make a comical grimace of regret,” said Judi James
She added that Meghan’s “hand, which came to her face in a cutoff ritual that acted as a partial barrier, touched her chin in a gesture normally seen as coy flirting on the first date.”
Body language expert Judi James has analyzed a video of Prince Harry and Meghan
Ms James continued: ‘In other words, she turned him down and perhaps took adult control of this, even raising her right hand to touch his forearm in a gesture that mixed admiration with subtle restraint.
“But she did it in a way that still showed love for him, mixing signals of shyness and playful flirting with some ties that said no.”
The pundit also recalled that Michelle Obama turned down her husband Barack’s offer of a kiss at a basketball game in Washington in 2012.
However, she added that when the cameras came back, the pair “clutched to the pressure and performed a rather sweet ‘guppy kiss’ much to the delight of the audience.”
Meghan and Harry joined the stars at the game last night, along with 20,000 other fans, including Kim Kardashian, Adam Sandler and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.
In their first public appearance together in a month, the Duke and Duchess took their Archewell staff to watch the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Memphis Grizzlies in game four of the NBA playoffs.
Around 20,000 fans encouraged Harry and Meghan to kiss on the big screen last night
Meghan and Harry were clapping and cheering during the NBA playoffs game yesterday
Meghan smiles at her husband as they laugh and enjoy a date night at the Crypto.com Arena
The royal couple, who will not attend the coronation together next month, were all smiles in a box at the Crypto.com Arena.
Thousands began clapping and cheering, encouraging them to kiss. Harry then appeared to lean in for a hug, but his wife, dressed in a $1,400 pink linen suit and heels, smiled and grabbed his arm instead of bowing to the crowd.
But despite the light-hearted disapproval, Meghan and Harry enjoyed a hug as the Lakers won the game 117 to 111 to take a 3-1 lead in the first round of the playoffs against the Grizzlies.
Sitting next to them was Rick Genow, an LA power attorney and adviser to the couple since Megxit. Footage of them enjoying the game was also posted on the NBA’s official Twitter feed using the hashtag #NBACelebRow.
Barack Obama kisses Michelle Obama during a basketball game in Washington DC in July 2012
Michelle Obama was initially seen turning down her husband Barack’s offer of a kiss at the 2012 Washington game, but when the cameras came back, they performed a hug
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic at about the same time this morning, Harry’s brother Prince William joined veterans at dawn to lay a wreath for Anzac Day at the Australia Memorial in London’s Hyde Park Corner.
Meghan and Harry were animated during the tense battle on the field where several members of the Archewell staff were present, including Maren Thomas, who works in their communications department.
Business manager Andrew Meyer and Miranda Barbot, PR prodigy of former President Barack Obama who now works for Archewell in communications, also sat in the posh seats with their bosses.
It came hours after a beaming Meghan for the first time since word got out that she won’t be attending King Charles’s coronation — as her PR team insisted she’s “moved on” and “living her life in the present.”
The Duchess, who introduced her photographer boyfriend Misan Harriman in a video ahead of his Ted Talk, said she was “thrilled” to welcome the Nigerian-born Briton to the stage, where the audience heard him speak about capturing experience of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.