Prince Harry was knocked "emotionally sideways" by Meghan Markle's public on-stage gesture at the Invictus Games, according to a body language expert.
Meghan paid a loving tribute to her "incredible husband" and shared a sweet kiss with him at the opening ceremony, where they both addressed the crowd.
The duchess took to the stage first at the event to introduce Harry and as he took the microphone from Meghan, he appeared close to tears.
And according to body language expert Judi James, their kiss was "ground breaking" but left Harry unnerved.
She told the Mirror: "As Meghan and Harry do the hand-over of the mic they also perform a kiss that would have been a given in the political world but which is ground breaking in royal terms. It is affectionate but swift, with both smiling proudly as they perform it.
"The problem for Harry is that it appears to knock him sideways emotionally. Watching his wife exit from the stage he stands in overwhelmed-looking silence for 30 seconds as the crowd carries on their applause.
"The stunned silence is mutually beneficial as crowds only stop clapping when the mic is raised to the mouth and Harry appears too close to tears to do that for the length of the 30 seconds.
"This is an unusually emotional display from Harry who has been seen striding out onto global stages with all the cheeky confidence of an MC at a rock conference. Instead, he turns his reddened face to the side, wiping the side of his nose with his knuckles in what looks like a partial cut-off to shield his facial expression.
"His eyes have the saddest expression as his tongue pokes out from the corner of his mouth and he looks down to suggest tearfulness.
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"Harry rubs his own hand as though trying to spur himself on but his attempt at a smile involves a lip-clamp with, again, tearful-looking eyes. He rocks from one foot to the other in a self-comfort ritual before throwing a double thumbs-up gesture to suggest that, contrary to the rest of his body language, he is actually ok.
"He places a finger to his lip in a ‘shush’ gesture, pointing out an individual in the crowd as he does so. Once he raises his mic the audience takes the cue quickly and sits down in their seats to listen.
"At this point, we get a re-boot of a more familiar-looking Harry. Placing one hand on his hip to suggest a re-inflation of his confidence, his famously naughty grin returns as he begins his own speech.
"This is dramatic and emotional stuff and his behaviour prompts the question: why the tearful emotions?
"Harry has done these events for years but without these signals of overwhelming emotion. Was it the hiatus caused by the pandemic or was it Meghan’s powerful intro that included words like ‘I could not love and respect him more’? Was it the meeting with his father and grandmother en-route to the games or was it the ‘perfect storm’ of all these circumstances?"
During the speech, Judi says Harry remains emotional, especially when he turned to talking about son Archie, where he revealed he wants to be an astronaut, pilot or a cartoon cat when he is older.
She added: "The emphasis on emotion is visible in Harry’s body language gestures during his speech.
"When he talks about his son Archie he raises his left hand to his left breast, patting it three times before using an acceleration gesture, actually cupping the breast and shaking it to refer to the beating heart.
"There are a few moments of humour as he pushes the hand out to the side but it quickly returns to the heart area, held cupped upward with the fingers splayed for more than four seconds at a time.
"Whatever other motivational points Harry makes during his speech his non-verbal impact seems to be all about a very dramatic emphasis on love and relationships."
Meanwhile, when it came to Meghan's speech, Judi says she put on a confident display and it was very much like a US presidential speech.
She explained: "Meghan’s introduction is impeccable and inspirational. Her feet are splayed, showing confidence, and her eye rotation works smoothly around the audience, reminding us of her professional training as an actor.
"Her charisma is at full blast here as she connects with the audience via several traits of likeability, like her raised brows, her warm authentic smile that seems aimed at individuals rather than a large crowd, and her often teasing vocal tone as she mentions her husband.
"This is very much like a US presidential speech when adoring spouses praise the candidate before they arrive on stage. She even uses the classic political device of grouping points in threes to stimulate applause: ‘This is service, this is dedication, this is the Invictus family’.
"If she arrived as a newbie wife-to-be at these Games in 2017, she more than earned her place in that family with this delivery."
