Meghan Markle returned to the red carpet last week sans her husband, Prince Harry, and launched herself as an A-list celebrity, according to a body language expert.

The Duchess of Sussex turned heads when she arrived Thursday evening at Variety magazine's Power of Women gala in Los Angeles. She wore a beige one-shoulder midi dress with a slit hem designed by Proenza Schouler and paired it with a black clutch and Aquazzura heels.

The former "Suits" star took her time on the red carpet and made several poses for the photographers. Body language expert Judi James, author of "Bodytalk: The Skills of Positive Image," weighed in on Markle's red carpet appearance and felt that the former actress was seemingly returning to her previous status as a celebrity.

"Meghan's moment on the red carpet here sees her seem to try to launch herself as an A-list actress rather than as a royal," James told GB News. "Her poses for the camera begin with some small glances of hesitation, but then, with her sideways poses and her glances over that bare shoulder, she is suddenly in the zone."

The expert also pointed out that the "Horrible Bosses" actress was too much in the zone that she didn't notice her assistant nudging her to move forward. However, Prince Harry's wife's assistant's hand "gate-crashed her shots" as she signed Markle that it was time to wrap up her poses. James also pointed out that being "ushered" was not a royal thing.

"Her moment of A-list stardom has been sullied by the hand creeping into shot and the implied low status of being ushered along," James explained. "Royals don't get ushered, and this does look like a small clash of status behaviors for Meghan the Duchess versus Meghan the Suits actress. Her return in triumph looked compromised, but she managed to style it out without looking annoyed."

In related news, royal biographer Omid Scobie claimed that Markle had already moved on from the royal family. The "Finding Freedom" author said in an interview ahead of the release of his new book "Endgame" that he spoke to some sources close to Markle, and the actress reportedly "doesn't want anything to do" with the royals anymore.

However, some netizens disagreed, pointing at Markle's continued use of her royal title. "Haha .. except she still uses the title and tries to upstage all of their events with prearranged pap shots," one critic wrote.

Tags: Meghan Markle Prince Harry Variety gala