Meghan Markle’s ‘confession’ during New York appearance
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry shared an awkward moment at the TIME100 Summit with a body language expert giving feedback on the gesture that proves the Duke is a ‘spare’.
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Meghan Markle and Prince Harry seemingly shared an awkward moment when they arrived in New York City for the TIME100 Summit on Wednesday.
As they stepped out of their car, the Duke of Sussex, 40, appeared to reach out to his wife to hold her hand.
But Meghan, 43, appeared to not notice and instead hugged a woman who was waiting for her arrival, the New York Post reports.
Prince Harry, instead, then stood alone and adjusted his outfit while watching Meghan embrace her friend.
Moments later, Prince Harry followed his wife into the building. Right before they walked through the door, the Duchess of Sussex turned around as her husband caught up to her.
Body language expert Judi James analysed the couple’s interaction in an interview with the Daily Mail.
“Whether Harry’s leading or lurking here he appears to be in the role of ‘spare,’ displaying some awkward-looking body language poses while a more assured Meghan takes the starring role,” Ms James said.
Prince Harry grew up being known as the “spare” because he’s Prince William’s younger brother. He used the term for the title of his 2023 memoir.
“By the time they’re arriving for the greetings it seems to be Meghan very much in the lead while Harry lurks behind,” Ms James told the Daily Mail.
“Meghan uses one key non-verbal cue or tell here to elevate her celebrity or star status. While her arms are bent at a 45-degree angle, her hands adopt a ‘celebrity wilt’, dangling from her bent wrists. This is a gesture that suggests a form of specialness,” she added.
Meghan’s body language “reflects status power as in ‘I don’t need my hands as I have people to open my doors and tow me along.’”
“It’s Meghan who works the cameras here and instigates the gracious-looking hugs of friendship,” she said, adding, “Harry waits his turn in a way that would have been unthinkable during his time in the royal family. His jacket hangs open and his expression is more intense and less radiant than his wife’s.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrived to the TIME100 Summit in a four-car motorcade — made up of another SUV and two unmarked police cars — and were flanked by several security guards.
The exiled royal wore a dark suit to the event, while the As Ever founder donned a tan blazer, matching pants, a white top and heels.
Meghan later took to the Time100 Summit stage and gushed that she’s currently “the happiest” she’s ever been.
Speaking on stage alongside Time’s Jessica Sibley, the Confessions of a Female Founder podcast host was asked about her own “confessions”.
“A confession for you today that I can very comfortable say is that I’m the happiest I’ve ever been,” Meghan said.
“To have a partner and a husband who is so supportive and have healthy kids who are so joyful … I never would have imagined at this point I would feel so happy and grateful, and I really do.”
The Duchess of Sussex also spoke about being a working mother, revealing that her five-year-old son, Prince Archie, is going to lose his first tooth “this week, which is about to happen, and I just hope I’m back home in time for it!” (The family, including three-year-old Princess Lilibet, is based in California.)
Meghan also revealed why her much-maligned Netflix series wasn’t actually shot in the family’s California mansion.
“On this show, it’s a crew of 80 people,” Meghan said. “People said, ‘Why didn’t you film the show in your house?’ I said, ‘My kids are coming home for their nap.’ Eighty people in the kitchen isn’t really the childhood memory I would love for them to have.”
Meghan has been busy with her own projects in 2025 with the Netflix series, With Love, Meghan being a hit for the streamer (a second series will premiere later this year).
She also debuted her lifestyle brand As Ever earlier this month with the first collection of food products selling out in 45 minutes.
Meghan said she was shocked by the response. “After a year of work and development and manufacturing, we had a feeling there would be some buzz surrounding it, but 45 minutes was not something I could have anticipated, she said.
She also premiered her new podcast after one season of Archetypes, which was dropped by Spotify. Confessions of a Female Founder sees the Duchess of Sussex take the mic to interview fellow female founders (including some famous friends) about their journeys in business and lessons learned along the way.
The Duchess of Sussex recently opened up about how other female founders have inspired her on her own entrepreneurial journey.
“What’s been meaningful is being able to talk about my own entrepreneurial journey with other female founders who are either on their own trajectory of growth or have IPO’d, sold, or created high impact brands and gone through all of the learning curves that we all do at the start,” she told People magazine.
“You’re just trying to figure out how to walk, then you want to learn how to run, and then you want to learn how to fly. All of those things take time. There’s also something very exciting and energising about learning something new as we get older,” she explains. “The entrepreneurial journey, for anyone, is a lot, and I’m also really, really lucky that so many of my close friends are female founders that I can glean advice from.”
Originally published as Meghan Markle’s ‘confession’ during New York appearance
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