Harry appeared 'subservient' before the Queen at last engagement as working royal: 'Shows a change in his status'
A body language expert decoded Harry's demeanor on March 9, when he attended the Commonwealth Service in Westminster Abbey with his wife Meghan Markle, in the presence of his grandmother, the Queen, and other family members.
It has been reported earlier that the British monarch was thrown off-track when she learned about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's decision to quit the royal family and move to Canada with their son Archie. However, after their formal announcement in January, the 93-year-old head of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms tried to come to terms with her grandson's wishes and allowed him to step down as a senior member of the family.
Earlier this month, she even had a "heart-to-heart" talk with the 35-year-old in Buckingham Palace and later invited the couple to join her for the Sunday church service. Although the relationship between the Queen and Harry seems to be at peace -- unlike his equation with his brother William -- body language expert Patti Wood told Marie Claire that he looked tensed in the presence of his grandmother during Monday's service.
"The Queen is looking down and not looking at them, and Meghan is smiling. I would say that's fairly genuine because it's made along with eye contact," Wood said.
"If you look at her hand, she's holding on to the paper, but you notice how relaxed her fingers are and how open the fingers are. She's not tensely holding the paper. It's very relaxed. That says that she's fine. She's okay. It's all good."
She added: "But when you go to him, if you look, his head is downcast, and he's trying. He's looking at his grandma. If you look at the eyebrows in that photo, it's concerned. It's more you wouldn't know he's the grandson in that photo—you would think he was some sort of subservient in a greater way. It shows a change in his status, his feelings. It's not negative. It's just revealing."