Skip to main content

July 10, 2019. Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton cheered on Prince Harry and Prince William at a polo match. The outing, which happened amid rift rumors, saw the Duchess of Sussex and now-Princess of Wales stand on the sidelines together. However, as a body language expert noted, the two royals didn’t appear keen to interact with each other.

Kate and Meghan weren’t ‘willing to meet in the middle’ at the 2019 polo match 

Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle, who might've 'deliberately ignored' each other at a 2019 polo match, according to a body language expert, with Prince Louis and Prince Archie
Prince Louis, Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle, and Prince Archie | Samir Hussein/WireImage

Body language expert Judi James analyzed Meghan and Kate’s movements at the 2019 polo match, examining footage of the two cheering on the Duke of Sussex and Prince of Wales. One takeaway? Meghan and Kate might’ve “deliberately avoided” each other.

“What we’re looking at appears to be two mothers wrapped up and lost in their own worlds,” James said at the time (via Express). “This could be a deliberate effort to avoid one another.”

Kate sat with her and the Prince of Wales’s three kids; Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. Meanwhile, Meghan stood on the sidelines with her and Harry’s son, Prince Archie, whom they’d welcomed in May 2019. 

“We don’t see any shots of Kate getting up to coo over the baby, which you’d expect,” the body language expert continued. “Kate stays down, Meghan stays up and neither seems willing to meet in the middle.”

“Instead, Meghan seems to stand alone and wary with a high protective grasp on her little boy — as if to say, ‘It’s me and Archie against the world.’”

Prince Harry and Meghan already had 2 ‘clear the air’ meetings with Prince William and Kate by the time of the polo match appearance

Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle who, according to a body language expert, might've 'deliberately ignored' each other at a 2019 polo match, stand with Prince William and Prince Harry
Prince William, Kate Middleton, Prince Harry, and Meghan Markle | Kirsty O’Connor – WPA Pool/Getty Images

When Kate and Meghan went to the polo field to cheer on Prince William and Prince Harry, a lot had already transpired between the so-called “Fab Four.” The lip gloss drama and friction over bridesmaid dresses were just a few. 

As Harry recounted in his January 2023 Spare memoir, there’d been two “clear the air” sessions involving the couples. One in June 2018 and another six months later in December 2018. Fingers were pointed (literally) and Meghan’s “baby brain” comment was discussed. 

Later, after a British tabloid published Meghan’s letter to her estranged father in February 2019, Harry claimed William “attacked” him, pushing him to the ground at Nottingham Cottage. 

Meghan Markle later said public appearances with Kate weren’t necessarily ‘what it looked like’

In Meghan and Harry’s bombshell Oprah interview, the former Suits star touched on stepping out in public with her sister-in-law. Oprah asked Meghan if she felt “welcomed by everyone” as a new addition to the royal family, referencing Wimbledon with Kate

“Did you feel welcomed by everyone?” Oprah asked. “It seemed like you and Kate at the Wimbledon game where you were going to watch a friend play tennis. Was it what it looked like?”

“You are two sisters-in-law out there in the world, getting to know each other,” Oprah added. “Was she helping you, embracing you into the family, helping you adjust?”

“I think everyone welcomed me,” Meghan replied. “And, yeah, I know you say, ‘Was it what it looked like?’ My understanding and my experience for the past four years is that it’s nothing like what it looks like. It’s nothing like what it looks like.”

Meghan and Kate went to Wimbledon together in July 2018 and once again in July 2019, just three days after their polo match appearance. 

Showbiz Cheat Sheet acknowledges conditions and cultures can impact body language and is sensitive to all backgrounds.