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Meghan Markle has been spotted poking her tongue out on several occasions – both during public and private engagements. While the Duchess of Sussex hasn’t been seen doing this quirky facial expression in a few years, body language expert Judi James discussed the gesture and what it might mean.
Judi said: “Meghan used this gesture when she was wearing her more formal royal clothing for the first time.
“It implies a desire to look funny and ‘real’ rather than stiff and starchy.”
The expert explained how Princess Diana “used to employ similar, self-effacing traits” in a bid to “connect with her fans”.
“When she [Diana] was appearing at very dressy royal events, [she was seen] often grinning and rolling her eyes at the cameras to show she was still natural and down-to-earth despite wearing a long gown and a tiara,” Judi added.
The expert said there are three types of ‘tongue-pokes’ Meghan uses, and it all depends on the occasion or setting, and each type has a different meaning.
When she visited Brinsworth House to help make Christmas decorations one year, she was photographed sticking only “part of her tongue out and clamping it between her teeth” as she studied the paper before her.
Judi said Meghan was using a “very childish gesture of concentration”.
She explained how “babies and small kids will often poke their tongue from their mouths when they’re thinking hard or working on something they find complex”.
One reason for this is the tongue is covered with nerve endings and keeping it still like this can “help avoid distraction”.
Another time Meghan stuck her tongue out was when she appeared at Buckingham Palace for Prince Charles’ 70th birthday celebrations in the royal gardens.
This tongue-poke was “naughty fun” Judi said, a complete contrast to her “formal” attire and suggested Meghan was being “down-to-earth”.
The body language expert noted how the tongue was “partly protruded” but Meghan’s upper lip was “puckered”.
She also said the Duchess portrayed an “emphatic eye-smile to show she’s using the gesture as a tie-sign to share a chuckle with her fans”.
“This type of poke can also be quite flirty, which is why she’ll often use it when Harry is watching,” Judi added.
The third tongue-poke is Meghan’s “cheekiest” according to Judi, and was seen when she attended a friend’s wedding and her first Christmas at Sandringham.
Looking back over her shoulder, Meghan was seen looking at someone in the distance.
She had “raised her eyebrows” and her eyes were “widened”, as she smiled and clamped her top teeth down onto her tongue.
This “cheeky tongue-poke” is the “sort of gesture that would get a mirrored response”.
Judi told Fabulous that Meghan was “really working the empathy here, with a mutually childlike gesture”.
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