Harry and Meghan showed 'powerful clues' in 'staged' Christmas with royals

Body language signals from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle during their final Christmas with the royal family in 2018 showed tensions were already present, according to an expert.

While greeting crowds at the church service that year, Judi James says subtle clues betrayed friction between the Sussexes and Prince William and Kate that ongoing media reports had only hinted at. 

The expert notes the foursome interaction looked "choreographed" and "staged" to dispel rumors of cracks. But tells such as the brothers having no eye contact or interaction, and Kate's "complex" smile, implied unease beyond what was shown.

Meghan also clung tightly to Harry without reciprocating Kate's social gestures, in what Judi reads as seeing the Cambridges as interruptions. Meanwhile Prince William stood apart wrapped in a scarf with his hands stuffed away.

Judi told The Mirror: "There were subtle but powerful underlying clues that the rift between the two couples was anything but just a rumour here."

"In fact the opposite looked true," Judi remarked. "This had all the hallmarks of being a planned, choreographed 'denial' pose of the kind celebrity couples adopt when there are rumours of a marriage breakdown. At the time it was assumed that it was Kate and Meghan who had the beef and so the job of looking as though they could play together nicely seemed to have been placed firmly in poor Kate's lap.

Noting the walk was "nothing but staged," she added, "William and Harry had no eye contact and no connection at all here. While the cameras were obsessed with Kate and Meghan's body language together the frost between the two brothers barely got a mention though because they were still seen as an unbreakable sibling double act.

"Kate's smile as she chatted to Meghan looked very complex for a woman who normally performs uncomplicated, pitch-perfect smiles. We can see a double puckering of her cheek, suggesting her muscles were battling to produce a mouth smile that might have been in conflict with her inner emotions."