MEGHAN Markle and Prince Harry have gone from “sexy PDAs” to “professionally decoupling” amid rumours they are “drifting apart.”
Body language expert Judi James claimed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex used to be the ultimate “romantic double act”, but appear to have ditched their “tactile” touches recently.
Speaking on our first ever Royal Exclusive Live show, Arthur Edwards and Jennie Bond lifted the lid on the power couple’s recent time apart.
Sun legend Arthur revealed how the pair are ‘doing things separately now’ after failing to be spotted together in three weeks.
We last saw the Sussexes together at the George Zajfen Tennis Tournament in Los Angeles in September, where they posed apart from one another.
Judi told Fabulous: “Harry and Meghan were always the ultimate celebrity BOGOF couple (As in ‘buy one get one free’).
“As a royal couple their tactile, besotted and often sexy PDAs were constant and instinctive.
“They hugged, kissed and touched each other constantly and emphatically and, like Ant and Dec, their brand was built around their complimentary double act.”
However, they switched up their body language at the tennis, according to Judi.
She added: “One of their more recent outings together show them comfortable to stand as ‘bookends’ to this pose rather than being welded together in the middle in the way they previously would have.
“Instead of posing as the double act star of the show with their primary focus on each other they take more of a hosting role here and there is no mirroring of each other, either.”
Jennie Bond, a royal correspondent for the last 35 years, claimed on the Royal Exclusive live show: “Meghan is not popular.
“She doesn’t want to come back [to the UK] and they are going their own ways, to some extent”.
Harry and Meghan’s enterprises are said to now be running side-by-side rather than jointly, although they are expected to be seen together at charitable engagements and embarking on foreign visits.
While it is understood that the Duke and Duchess’s work lives will be separated, insiders told The Sun that they are also spending more and more of their down time apart.
Harry has barely been at home in Montecito for the past three weeks. He has been seen without Meghan in New York, London and Lesotho.
This series of solo trips for Harry, has sparked fears the couple, who have been married for six years, are drifting apart.
However, the Sussexes’ confidante insisted: “It is normal for couples to not do everything together.”
Speaking of Harry’s recent WellChild charity appearance in London, Judi said: “Harry’s charisma potential is halved without his wife beside him but his royal training means he has some fall-back poses, like this fig-leaf one that is a signature pose of William’s too, or the very playful, immersive chats he’s been having with some of the children he’s been meeting.
“If these two are building separate brand profiles alongside their powerful double act the body language so far suggests it’s Harry maybe coping better than the rather tentative ‘back to Hollywood’ body language displays from Meghan.
“Meghan’s recent red-carpet appearance showed her looking Hollywood-style beautiful but also rather lost without Harry as a love-prop and body language sidekick and that impression was made more poignant by the way she re-wore a red dress she’d famously worn with him back in the day.
“Her legs are crossed at the ankle here in a low-confidence ritual and without the hand or arm-holding with Harry her hands touch in front of her torso in a tentative gesture.”
This is in stark contrast to how we’ve seen the couple at the start of their relationship.
We’ve previously seen the couple not being able to keep their hands off one another during their joint ventures.
In 2018 we saw Harry give Meghan a cheeky bum pat during their tour to Australia, and Judi said: “Harry’s behaviour here on the plane steps is very typical of the ‘can’t keep our hands off each other’ stage of a loving and passionate relationship.
“It’s a public signal of attraction but it also creates a very powerful silent tie-sign between them as in ‘We might be on a formal gig but you’re still the sexiest woman alive in my eyes.’
“It’s a naughty signal of appreciation.”
We’ve even seen the couple kiss in public, something rarely seen by Prince William and Kate Middleton.
Speaking of one such example in 2018, Judi shared: “The polo kiss is a royal staple but Harry and Meghan gave it some ‘get a room’ energy.
“It was a proper mouth kiss rather than the cheek variety and Meghan threw her head back, baring her neck in a rather passionate display that made everyone grin and even blush.”
Royal etiquette expert Myka Meier advised that there is no official rules against royal public displays of affection.
She told People: “There is no actual etiquette or royal protocol that says the couple must refrain from PDA.
“The likely reasoning is more that while travelling on a tour such as the India trip, technically the couple are working representatives of British Monarchy.
“The couple are likely to show very little PDA, if any, to remain professional during their designated roles abroad.”
This comes after it was revealed Harry spent the night of his milestone 40th birthday without Meghan as rumours continue to swirl.
The duke went on a hiking trip with pals to celebrate his big day – and failed to mention his wife, 43, in his birthday thanks message.
Although sources close to the couple insist it was Meghan who organised the lads’ trip, experts warned it could be a key sign things are not so rosy.
It was also reported Meghan ditched a charity event at the last minute in Santa Barbara, California, with her husband because she was “sick”.
In fact, the mum-of-two has not been seen since September 14 — the day before Harry turned 40.
And, sources claim, for periods earlier this year, she was rarely staying at their luxury Montecito pad.
Meanwhile, Harry was said to be “moping around” on his own at a local cafe.
Previous claims last year that Meghan and Harry spent extended spells apart were denied by those close to the couple.
By Summer Raemason
PRINCE Harry’s tattoo shop visit and upcoming solo trip without Meghan is a major hint the couple could have separate future plans, claimed an expert.
The Duke of Sussex, 40, was recently spotted at a tattoo parlour in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
This comes after the duke attended at a string of events in New York unaccompanied by his wife, who stayed behind in Montecito, California.
Their separate appearances, including Harry’s surprise TV stint and tour of a haunted maze on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, has sparked rampant speculation regarding their future together.
Royal expert Hugo Vickers said there could be multiple reasons for the divide.
“One could be that, you know. He does indeed wish to establish himself more as the old Harry,” he said.
“It could be quite simply that Meghan Markle has responsibilities with her young children, and therefore feels she has to stay at home with them.
But he added: “There is a separation of, you know, of their different engagements, and that he’s going to be going more solo, in which case watch this space.”
Meghan and Harry have put on a largely inseparable front since quitting the UK and moving to the States in 2020.
But Mr Vickers warned the duke may have grown tired of Meg’s presence – and the negativity it attracts.
“It always seems to me that when she’s around she’s dictating the narrative, and that he kind of is very compliant and just goes along,” he said.
“A lot of the things that he says publicly I have always suspected are dictated by her. So I do wonder a little bit whether he isn’t trying to establish himself more in his own right.”
However, the expert hinted Meghan could still be behind everything.
He said: “It could be that she commends this idea because it gives him more of a a profile and sort of ups his game, and therefore, when they go out together in public, they’re more valuable.”
On the future of Harry and Meghan’s relationship, Mr Vickers added “personally think it’s quite likely to not end too well for [Harry]”.
Regarding rumours swirling their marriage, the expert suggested they may stay together – to preserve their image.
“It is possible that they need to keep stay together to keep their brand,” he said.
