Prince Harry gets emotional at Meghan Markle's sweet gesture at Invictus Games

Prince Harry appeared close to tears after Meghan Markle gushed about him during her speech at the opening ceremony of the Invictus Games on April 16.

Body language expert Judi James claimed that the Duchess of Sussex knocked her husband "sideways emotionally" with her speech. In it, she called him her "incredible husband" and a "loving father." She added that she "could not love and respect him more."

The Duke of Sussex went up to the stage to a standing ovation from the crowd and he and the 40-year-old shared a brief but sweet kiss. He then thanked her and said, "Thank you, my love."

James told The Mirror that the kiss was "groundbreaking in royal terms" as it showed them "both smiling proudly as they performed it." But it reportedly left Prince Harry feeling emotional. She said it appeared to "knock him sideways emotionally" and he just stood there after Meghan Markle left, looking overwhelmed for 30 seconds as the crowd cheered.

"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." She called it 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."

James pointed out that the Duke of Sussex instead turned his "reddened face to the side" and wiped the side of his nose with his knuckles to somewhat partially hide his facial expression. She noted, "His eyes have the saddest expression as his tongue pokes out from the corner of his mouth and he looks down to suggest tearfulness."

"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."

James wondered why Prince Harry became emotional given that he has been at the Invictus Games for years but "without these signals of overwhelming emotion." She speculated that it must have something to do with his and Meghan Markle's reunion with Prince Charles, Camilla, and Queen Elizabeth II in the U.K. last week Thursday.