The speech that Prince Harry gave at the closing of this year’s Invictus Games saw his emotions get the better of him and briefly “take over”, according to a body-language expert.
The Duke of Sussex, 39, took to the stage in Dusseldorf and addressed the audience to mark the end of the week-long event.
But expert Judy James told the Mirror she thought the intended tone of his speech in Germany took second fiddle to his emotions.
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She said: "It was very telling of Harry's inner emotions during this closing ceremony that he appeared to have written a rather lecturing, hard-hitting speech to his audience, which he tried to deliver with the pacing, fist-waggling, finger-pointing style of a military leader.
“However, his body language told a different story as his emotions leaked out and at times took over.
“At one point he appeared tearful when he stopped speaking and wiped his mouth with his hand.”
Harry’s wife Meghan Markle was also at the event at the Merkur Spiel Arena but did not take to the stage.
Judy said the Duke’s emotions “were visible from the start” when his “non-stop lip-licking and lip-clamping looked like a sure sign of pressure or nerves”.
She added: “His pointing and pacing looked like a show of strength but then there was a hugging of the mic with both hands and some ear-scratching that looked like self-comfort or self-distraction rituals.
"His body language veered between leadership and humility and one of his only smiles came after he spoke in German for a couple of phrases.
“Unlike his usual style there were no jokes, no banter, no show-boating and no love-story-style references to his wife or his family."
Judi said the whole thing marked a departure for the royal couple, with just the brief appearance by Harry and no stage appearance at all by Meghan.
She added: “[Harry] seemed to be projecting a more low-key profile with gestures and poses of humility, even sitting with his hands between his legs and his head bowed as he was called out from the stage.”
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