Prince Harry appeared tense and uneasy during his recent appearance on Hasan Minhaj’s podcast, Hasan Minhaj Doesn’t Know, where the conversation mixed serious topics with the comedian’s trademark humor. The Duke of Sussex joined the show to discuss his and Meghan Markle’s advocacy around the dangers of artificial intelligence and social media use among children.
While the discussion was meant to highlight their work in digital safety, much of the episode was filled with light teasing and comedic exchanges that appeared to make Harry uncomfortable. Body language expert Judi James, speaking to The Mirror, analyzed Harry’s reactions throughout the episode. She said that Minhaj’s quick and playful style seemed to catch the Duke off guard.
“Hasan’s ability to blend serious and important messages with the kind of mocking humour that Ali G used to be known for appears, from Harry’s body language, to be a de-stabilizing technique,” James explained.
According to her analysis, Harry initially kept pace with Minhaj’s jokes, but the mood shifted when the teasing became more personal. “He can throw back one-liners efficiently enough, but it’s here where his host seems to trip over the border from trading jokes and laughing with Harry to laughing at him that sees Harry become increasingly uncomfortable,” she said.
James pointed to a moment when Minhaj asked Harry to perform an American accent and joked about his memoir, Spare, as a turning point. She said the prince appeared visibly uneasy and unsure how to respond. “Hasan takes his gags beyond Harry’s understanding here, leaving him with no wriggle room to out-joke the host,” James noted.
“And it’s at this point that Harry seems to become genuinely concerned, looking out to the crew to ask, ‘Is this part of the thing?’ to find out if he’s being encouraged or mocked.” James added that Harry admitted he was “sweating” during the exchange, with his body language clearly reflecting discomfort.
“When the host gets round to talk about his book Spare and refers to Harry’s ‘vulnerability,’ Harry’s change of expression suggests he believes this is the part where they talk seriously about his mental health,” she said. “But the quote the host uses is about how Harry had to buy his clothes from TKMaxx, which again seems to wrong-foot Harry.”
She concluded that Harry’s toe-tapping and wary eye movements toward the end of the interview hinted at growing frustration and impatience — signs that the Duke was struggling to hide how unsettled he felt.