Prince Harry’s surprise visit to an NHL ice hockey game last night where he dropped the first puck helped confirm his royal status in America, an expert said today.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex watched excitedly as the Vancouver Canucks beat the San Jose Sharks 3-1 from a VIP box at the Rogers Arena in Canada yesterday.
‘Playful’ Harry was pictured dropping the puck for Tomas Hertl from the Sharks and Quinn Hughes from the Canucks during a ceremonial face-off ahead of the whistle.
His late grandmother Queen Elizabeth II made the same puck drop at a 2002 match, also between the Canucks and Sharks, during her Golden Jubilee tour of Canada.
Now, body language expert Judi James has said Harry’s role ‘seems to confirmed an enduringly ‘royal’ status in the US’ – and revealed a ‘narrative of total immersion in US culture too, almost outdoing Taylor Swift in his celebratory, fanboy rituals’.
She also told MailOnline that that puck drop was ‘so clearly the old Harry out on the ice’, using body language ‘that is more ‘Royal Harry’ than celebrity’.
Ms James said there was ‘some slight tension showing’ as he sucked his lips while making his way across a carpet on the ice ‘but his walk and his wave to the crowd suggests he’s adoring being out there in the spotlight again as a royal presence’.
Prince Harry drops the puck during a ceremonial face-off with Quinn Hughes (right) of the Vancouver Canucks and Tomas Hertl of the San Jose Sharks prior to their NHL game last night
Meghan clutches her wine glass as Harry cheers a Canucks win last night
The Queen drops the puck in 2002 when the same teams played on her Golden Jubilee tour
She said he also performed his ‘own version of a royal wave’, with the index and next finger splayed apart in a ‘V’- shaped victory signal.
And Ms James said there was ‘the playful, naughty-looking version of Prince Harry again, flashing his old ‘devilish’ grin at the cameras and sharing a joke and a mimed wiping of his forehead to…
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