Prince Harry's controversial biography sheds light on the dynamic between his wife and brother-in-law
Six years ago, during the Wimbledon Championships, Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton looked friendly while attending the SW19 event.
In front of the world, the then Duchess of Cambridge and Duchess of Sussex laughed and joked together as they shared their love of tennis. Many believed that this was the beginning of a blossoming friendship, but as time has shown, this was not the case.
Earlier this year, a controversial biography of Prince Harry highlighted the dynamic between his wife and brother-in-law. He described several instances where Meghan appeared to be at odds with Kate in the early days of their relationship, including Kate's apology after Meghan referred to her as having a "baby brain" after the birth of Prince Louis. .
While Kate and Meghan smiled and enjoyed the event, body language expert Jodi James noted that, by this point, the underlying tension was evident — not in what they did, but in what they didn't do. .
Their first trip to Wimbledon comes at a time when expectations are still high that these two women could be best friends," Jodi told The Mirror of their 2018 debut.
What we saw from their body language at the time was a display of politeness that didn't entirely suggest a close friendship bond. Kate looked like a gracious host and Meghan seemed to enjoy her company. There appeared to be but little convincing indication of anything more intimate
As an early ritual, though, it seemed to leave the door partially open in terms of relationship building. Laughter seemed shared and authentic but resulted in relaxed posture or tie marks or eyes. There was no increase in testing, indicating that these were the first stages of a growing friendship.
The following year brought another amicable trip to the tennis, this time with Meghan sandwiched between Kate and her younger sister Pippa - and Jodie says there were clear signs of trouble in paradise, particularly the full complement of friendship gestures. Given the shortage you would expect. 12 months later.
By the time of the second visit, there were some subtle signs of possible tension on Kate's part, who seemed to have adopted a more 'adult' stance," Judy continued.
Kate was still a very polite and friendly host but it was very clear that the bonding signals behind the scenes were showing no sign of a growing or mature level of intimacy or rapport.
The two women laughed together and even turned together to speak to someone behind them but as they pulled back their smiles seemed to fall almost at the same time. By now you could see more changed eyes, mirrors. And expect to see more softened facial expressions when they talk to each other but there were no signs of progress along these lines.
Meghan was placed between Kate and her sister Pippa in what seemed to be a sign of family unity, but it looks like how Meghan mirrored Pippa more than Kate and a bit more when she was talking to her. She had a tendency to relax.
Neither of these women will produce any active signs of dislike or unfriendliness, but it is the lack of any development of signs of friendship that makes it seem like their relationship has stalled, of public displays of solidarity. Despite the efforts.
Both should have known that their husbands were struggling with their rift and that would have made it even more difficult.
