Meghan Markle’s ‘enigmatic’ smile echoes Princess Diana’s Panorama interview

The ‘Sphinx-like’ Duchess of Sussex maintains an ‘enigmatic’ smile as she speaks to Oprah Winfrey in the first trailer for their bombshell interview in echoes of Princess Diana on Panorama, a body language expert has claimed.

During the 30-second trailer, Meghan Markle, 36, does not speak but is seen smiling slightly in response to Oprah saying ‘no topic was off limits’ for their TV special, which airs this Sunday.

It calls to mind Princess Diana’s behaviour during her 1995 tell-all interview with Martin Bashir, body language expert Judi James told FEMAIL. 

The teasers reveal Meghan will discuss what made royal life ‘almost unsurvivable’, and show Oprah asking: ‘Were you silent or were you silenced?’ Oprah also says to the camera: ‘Just to make it clear to everybody, there is no subject that is off-limits.’

Elsewhere in the trailer, filmed at the couple’s £12million California manion, Meghan clutches Prince Harry’s hand in a ‘protective’ fashion as he compares their situation to the one faced by his mother and says he fears it would be a case of ‘history repeating itself’.

Here, Judi breaks down the key moments of the TV trailers…

ECHOES OF DIANA 

‘Meghan’s very subtle mouth-smile in response to Oprah’s dramatic claims does throw up hints of Diana’s interview back in the day, but while Diana’s sadness was etched on her face, Meghan’s expressions looks far more enigmatic here,’ explained Judi. 

‘Meghan’s poise here looks regal and suggests confidence though, rather than anything more defensive and wary. 

‘Her back is straight and she sits central in her chair and we can see both arms splayed in a pit-bare gesture to suggest feelings of self-control rather than any self-diminishing or barrier rituals to hint she might have felt the questions were getting beyond her here.’

MEGHAN, THE SILENT MOVIE STAR 

‘With the sinister-sounding music swirling about their heads to build up the drama, Meghan is presented as a silent movie star here with only a few meagre crumbs of hints about her verbal and emotional input,’ Judi said. 

‘Oprah is in full-on jaw-drop mode though, using terms like “silenced” and “unsurvivable” while Meghan sits, sphinx-like and beautiful, with only a head-tilt and small swallow suggesting depth of emotion in terms of her responses.’

PROTECTIVE OF PRINCE HARRY 

Judi continued: ‘Meghan looks protective of Harry though and the way that she cradles her baby bump with one hand (also displaying her wedding band) and places her left hand on top of Harry’s when he joins her suggests she is keen to protect both.’

‘Harry sits across his seat in a way that suggest he is keen to talk, but his air of awkwardness is in contrast to his wife’s poise. His hand looks balled into a fist beneath Meghan’s reassuring hand and his free hand is placed between his legs in a “fig-leaf” pose, suggesting a very basic desire to form a protective barrier.’

NO MORE PLAYFUL ‘HAZ’ 

Meanwhile the Duke of Sussex’s serious expression is worlds apart from the light-hearted goofiness he demonstrated during his interview on the Late Late Show With James Corden, which aired last week.

Judi added: ‘After seeing Harry living his best life recently, sitting barefoot on the grass with Meghan or rapping and exchanging banter with James Corden, the body language in this clip suggests a complete change of mood, with the comical ‘Haz’ swapped for a man sitting on all sorts of anguish and even fear related to the fate of his beloved mother and worries about history repeating itself.’