Original Coverage & Source Attribution: www.news24.com.au
New pictures of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle walking hand in hand to a pub lunch have been dissected by a body language expert, who claims the couple appear “completely out of sync”.
Paparazzi snapped the 42-year-old Duke and 45-year-old Duchess of Sussex on Friday as they made their way to The Falkland Arms in the Cotswolds, marking their first sighting together since moving back to the UK.
Both dressed casually and wearing sunglasses, Harry also sported a Santa Barbara Fire Department baseball cap in an apparent nod to the couple’s former home in nearby Montecito.
After examining the pictures, which were first published by The Sun UK, body language expert Inbaal Honigman claimed the Sussexes displayed “very different body language cues” as they made their way towards the pub.
“They appear out of sync with each other during their first public U.S. outing, which could point to a potential clash,” Honigman told News24.com.au on behalf of Casino.ca.
“As the two walk side by side to the pub, their body language fails to match at any point.”
Honigman continued: “When Harry looks ahead, Meghan is seen pointing and looking sideways, suggesting they may have different focuses or goals.
“When she holds a hand protectively in front of her upper body, he walks confidently, taking long strides with his arms swaying casually by his sides, highlighting their contrasting mindsets.”
The body language expert also pointed to a moment in which Harry touches his ear, describing it as a “sudden display of discomfort”, while Meghan “maintains a neutral, calm facial expression”.
“It’s almost as though the two are on completely different outings to different pubs,” she said.
“Their mismatched body language communicates a period of disharmony within their household.”
But it was another moment as the couple approached the pub that Honigman found particularly striking.
As the Sussexes “cross the hedge and embark on the path into the pub”, Harry can be seen walking “several paces behind his wife”, which Honigman described as an “unsupportive way for a husband to walk alongside his partner”.
“He could be more supportive by staying at her side, where she can see him and depend on him, or by walking just an inch or two behind her, showing that he’s ‘got her back’,” she said.
“Harry’s choice to maintain such a long gap between them is curious and could be another sign of potential friction between the couple.”
Despite Honigman’s interpretation of the images, those inside the pub painted a far more relaxed picture of the Sussexes’ lunch.
According to The Sun, Meghan ordered gluten-free beer-battered haddock and chips with mushy peas and tartare sauce, while Harry opted for a chicken, ham and leek pie served with seasonal greens, creamy mashed potatoes and gravy.
A pub insider told the outlet that the couple “just acted like locals” while dining.
However, it is not only the Sussexes’ body language that has attracted scrutiny, with several royal commentators questioning whether the seemingly candid photographs were as spontaneous as they appeared.
Royal reporter Tom Sykes questioned the circumstances surrounding the outing in his paid The Royalist Substack, claiming the images “look very fishy”.
“I’m profoundly unconvinced that this was a casual trip to the pub,” Sykes said.
“I believe this was at least a partially staged photograph; someone knew what was going on, because at the start of the week, they tried to link photographers following their family to an international global terror threat, but by the end of the week it looks like they are going to a place where it’s known that they go, and pretty much smiling for the cameras.”
Award-winning journalist Paula Froelich and British royal reporter Mark Dolan also weighed in on the photographs during a discussion on Froelich’s YouTube channel.
Dolan suggested the pictures could have been an attempt by the Sussexes to generate attention after what he characterised as a muted response to their return to Britain.
“The bottom line is that something has happened that Harry and Meghan weren’t expecting, which is that not only has the public completely ignored them since they got back to England, but the press have as well.
“And so what they’re having to do, in my opinion, when I piece together the jigsaw puzzle of this, and I look at the evidence, is basically invade their own privacy- they’ve had to pap themselves.”
However, Dolan acknowledged there was no definitive evidence the couple had arranged the photographs themselves.
“We cannot prove definitively that the Sussexes had organised those paparazzi shots, but given the fact that their arrival at the pub was so performative- although it’s interesting, isn’t it, because they’re clearly so unhappy in each other’s company that it’s a struggle to pretend to be in love- even though Meghan’s got a background in acting- because the whole thing was just excruciating.”
Froelich agreed: “They looked miserable.”
