Prince Harry looks ‘keen to avoid pulling royal rank’ and ‘allows Meghan to soak up all the attention’ as the couple meet Colombian vice president, says body language expert

Prince Harry appeared ‘keen to avoid pulling royal rank’ as he and wife Meghan Markle met Colombia’s vice president, according to a body language expert.

The Duke, 39, and Duchess, 43, of Sussex arrived in Bogota today, as they embark on a four-day tour of Colombia.

Meghan was invited to the country by VP Francia Márquez after she learned of her story in depth via the couple’s two-part Netflix documentary.

And first on the Sussexes’ agenda was meeting Ms Márquez and her partner, Rafael Yerney Pinillo at the politician’s residence.

Body language expert Judi James spoke to FEMAIL about photos from the engagement.

She said: ‘Harry’s body language on their arrival and as they greet their host suggests some status-lowering as though he is keen to avoid pulling royal rank here.’

Judi suggested that the Duke was purposefully taking a backseat when it came to the spotlight.  

‘He walks ahead, towing his wife along and allowing her to soak up all the attention with her elegant posture, that designer bag and her perfect, Duchenne smiles and excited eye-smiles, while his own facial expression looks less performative for the cameras,’ she explained.

The idea of Harry trying to avoid ‘pulling royal rank’ also appeared to be present as he greeted the vice president, according to Judi.

Describing the introduction between Meghan and Ms Márquez, Judi told FEMAIL: ‘Meghan greets the host warmly, using non-verbal signals that would normally imply a long, fond friendship. 

‘Her arms are held out to retain the clasp as though she is reluctant to let go and keen to chat while using eye contact and close attention signals.’

She added that this kind of prolonged holding is ‘usually seen when old friends greet each other after a time gap and want to combine holding with face-gazing as they play catch-up’.

Describing Harry’s introduction to the politician, Judi noted that ‘Meghan stands in the middle’ of the two, ‘with her arms held out to suggest it is she who is bringing the two people together’. 

She added: ‘[Meghan’s] fond smile makes it look as though she is delighted to have brokered the meeting between her husband and a woman she seems fond of.’

Meanwhile, when it came to the Duke, Judi said: ‘Harry responds with a very non-royal bow to signal respect and to lower his own status as his hand it held in a two-handed grasp of affection.’

According to reports, the Duke and Duchess stayed at the residence for half an hour, where the Vice President expressed her gratitude for the couple’s official visit.

Ms Marquez described the Sussexes’ trip as a ‘very special visit’ aimed at building bridges and joining forces against cyber-bullying and online digital violence and discrimination, as well as promoting women’s leadership in Colombia.

The Sussexes’ team has not confirmed how the trip is being funded, whether privately, through Harry and Meghan’s Archewell Foundation, by the Colombian government or other means.

The quasi-royal tour, which has many similarities to the programme of an official royal overseas visit, is the Sussexes’ second this year, after their three-day visit to Nigeria at the invitation of the West African nation’s chief of defence staff.

Harper’s Bazaar magazine, covering the trip as the only words pool, said Ms Marquez shared her personal admiration for Harry’s late mother Diana, Princess of Wales.

During the sit-down chat, Ms Marquez said she shared the same ideals and goals as Harry and Meghan amid their campaign to make the digital world safer for children. 

Ms Marquez took Harry and Meghan to visit city centre public school Centro Nacional Cultura Popular.

Harry and Meghan chatted with a group of around 20 students aged between 12 and 18. The kids spoke about what they like and what worries them about technological change.

Headmaster Leonel Umaña, 51, said the visit had focussed on an anti-cyber bullying project. 

Although there was a translator at hand, Meghan showed off her good command of Spanish, Mr Umaña said. 

He added: ‘She speaks Spanish well. We had to explain a few of our typical Colombian slang words that our students use and that caused a few laughs and jokes.

‘At first we were told that there were to be no mobile phones or pictures due to protocol.

‘But when we finished the session and toured the school with them they broke the protocol and posed for pictures with the kids.

‘Harry told the teachers to keep up their good work, which they loved.’

Across the next four days, the Sussexes will take in the city of Bogotá before heading off to Cartagena and Cali as part of a ‘cultural and social’ visit. 

Harry will also meet members of the Team Colombia squad participating in the Invictus Games, who are gearing up for the 2025 games in Whistler, Canada. 

Officials have kept the itinerary a closely guarded secret as parts of the country are described as ‘best avoided’ due to ongoing internal conflicts.

Colombia, like Nigeria, is seen as a high risk destination in parts by the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office. 

‘FCDO advises against all but essential travel to parts of Colombia,’ the government agency says, adding that many armed groups remain active in the country despite a 2016 peace deal between the government and revolutionary outfit FARC. 

Besides several police cars and vans, armed soldiers were also deployed to protect Harry and Megan in a massive ring of steel.

Roads were blocked off and residents forced on lengthy detours to reach their homes or wait at checkpoints for events to finish so they could carry on.

Security is also tight due to death threats on the host for their trip Ms Marquez. She has been targeted before in the past as have her relatives including an attack on her father Sigifredo Márquez Trujillo just two months ago when a car he was in was wracked with gunfire. He was unharmed. 

At the time she expressed her ‘concern for security in Cauca, Valle del Cauca, in the municipality of Suárez and the district of La Toma, as well as for the security of my community and my family’.

Ms Marquez told reporters earlier today the purpose of the visit was to ‘build bridges and open doors’ in order to tackle the problem of cyberbullying and discrimination online, particularly for young people.

She is reported to have told Harry and Meghan that they share the same goals when it comes to safety and mental health on social media.

However, she did not disguise that the trip will serve as a way of showing Colombia on the global stage – leading to fears that the Sussexes are being manipulated to shore up the vice-president’s reputation following a number of scandals. 

Colombian president Gustavo Petro, a former guerilla soldier, has a 34 per cent approval rating among voters and he has sacked centrist figured in his cabinet who opposed his expensive healthcare and pension plans.

Ms Marquez has been accused of using helicopters like taxis in order to shuttle herself back and forth from work. In the past, when asked why she used them so frequently, she is reported to have said she was the vice president, so ‘too bad.’

The VP says the visit has been on the cards for a year after she invited Meghan to the country a year ago on July 25, International Afro-descendant Women’s Day. 

Meghan had made much of her African descent during she and Harry’s visit to Nigeria in May this year – their first ‘in all but name’ royal tour together. 

Ms Marquez said today: ‘We wanted to invite Meghan, an Afro-descendant woman, to participate in that meeting and share her experiences. 

‘At that time we sent her a letter inviting her and she responded to us – the letter said that she couldn’t come but she was eager to visit and get to know our country. 

‘Since then we have been working for a year to achieve this visit, which is so important and good. 

‘(As for) how I met Meghan and Harry, well, I met them in the media but above all I saw the series on Netflix about her life and her story and that moved me and motivated me to say: this is a woman who deserves to come to our country and tell her story. 

‘Without a doubt it will be a strengthening for so many women in the world.’

She also said of the visit: ‘I also want to take advantage of the media, of national and international communication, to invite the world to visit our country. 

‘Colombia is a country with enormous cultural wealth, with unique biodiversity and strong people who want to get ahead.

‘Colombia, the country of beauty, wants to be the best host and so it will be.’

For Ms Marquez, part of the reason for the trip may be that she sees Meghan as an ally in cyberbullying. 

Ms Márquez claims she was the victim of over 12,000 racist comments on social media last year – and she has been the target of death threats and attacks.

She has been targeted in the past, as have her relatives – including an attack on her father Sigifredo Márquez Trujillo just two months ago when a car he was in was wracked with gunfire.

At the time of the attack, which took place on Father’s Day, Ms Márquez said: ‘It pains my heart, that just this day, my father was attacked. 

‘I report that my father, along with my 6-year-old nephew and the two men of protection, suffered an attack on the Suarez-Cali road, near Timba, fortunately they were unharmed and are well. 

‘I express my concern for security in Cauca, Valle del Cauca, in the municipality of Suárez and the district of La Toma, as well as for the security of my community and my family.’

She is the first black vice-president of Colombia and last year a woman was convicted after making a racist rant in which she called Ms Marquez an ‘ape’.

The Associated Press reported the woman, Luz Fabiola Rubiano, said: ‘Francia Márquez is an ape … what education can Black people have, they steal, attack and kill.’ She pleaded guilty to the charges in April 2023.

She told the press conference: ‘I think I have told the story, the history of racism and racial discrimination from when I was a child, I’ve been aware of it since I was 13. 

‘For women today that are involved in politics in the world, we are exposed to a level of violence on social networks that affects our wellbeing (and) our dignity.’