Since firmly cementing themselves as everybody's favourite royals, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have appeared at ease with their newfound media attention and pressure. Meghan, in particular, has impressed. When you consider that - in the UK at least - Meghan Markle was relatively unknown until her relationship with Harry became public, the former actress has had her life turned upside down since she married into the most famous family on the planet.
However, for all the attention, all the pressure and all the unfair criticism, Meghan has handled becoming the new Duchess of Sussex with grace and decorum... until now.
From the outside looking in, Meghan and Harry are very much a couple in love. Despite what royal protocol may tell them to do, the couple have often been pictured holding hands and displaying affection for one another. But during a recent public appearance, the couple looked unbelievably awkward.
At the Young Leaders Reception at Buckingham Palace on Jun 26, Meghan and Harry could be seen walking side-by-side and desperately wanting to hold hands. However, for whatever reason - protocol or not - the couple refrain from doing so and instead look unbearable awkward. Check out the footage below.
It's been reported that PDA is essentially banned from royal public appearances, with the Queen and Prince Phillip as well as Will and Kate rarely showing their love for one another. However, in order to get to the bottom of what was really going on here (and to double-check that our favourite couple weren't on the brink of a break-up) body-language expert, Blanca Cobb broke down to exchange to Cosmopolitan.
"I don’t think Prince Harry knows what to do with himself since he couldn’t or wouldn’t hold Meghan’s hand," Cobb said of Prince Harry's fumbling hand routine. Harry can be such touching his jacket button, then his tie, then his button again, before letting his hand just hang and then clasping them together in front of himself. According to Cobb, he was essentially binding his hands together to stop them from reaching out to Meghan.
Then, there's Meghan, who looks completely lost throughout this entire exchange. First, she looks in Harry's direction as if she's subtly asking for help. However, Harry is also lost in the "royal protocol sauce" and doesn't even look at his wife. Deciding to go it alone, Meghan sweeps her out of her face, but something is not right: she doesn't actually tuck her hair behind her ears, so it all just falls back anyway.
Now, with her hair once again all over her face, Meghan lowers her arm with a bent elbow, before extending the joint. "Her arm and hand don’t swing naturally," Blanca said of this behaviour. "It’s as if she’s keeping it within Harry's reach for when the moment presents itself that they can hold hands."
"They both seem a little lost without the physical connection through touch," Cobb says. "Both of them don’t know what to do with their hands since they can’t touch each other."
So there you have it, folks: Harry and Meghan cannot stop touching each other. They just love touching each other. Take that whichever way you will.
