Was this the earliest sign of cracks forming between Meghan and Kate? Body language expert reveals signs during Duchess’s royal debut that the ‘Fab Four’ weren’t getting on

Welcomed with a glorious round of applause, the Fab Four’s on-stage debut appeared to be off to a flying start.

All eyes were on William and Harry as they strode out with their partners Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle for their first ever joint event to unveil their charitable vision for the future of the Royal Foundation.

The event served as the informal royal ‘working debut’ of Harry’s then-fiancée, American actress Meghan, and the all-smiling team sat down for what would be a 22-minute joint interview.

But beneath the surface, the cracks in the relationship between the brothers and wives were beginning to appear.

Body language expert Judi James told the Daily Mail: ‘There was a soft-focus filter over this “Fab Four” meeting of minds at the time, as Harry rather coldly and incorrectly put it: “We’re together for life”.

‘The expectation was that we had a new friend and “sister” for Kate in much the same way that Fergie and Diana paired off, plus a very glamorous royal quartet to team up for their campaigns and charities.’

Despite not even being an official member of the Royal Family until her wedding a few months later in May, Meghan did not feel like she needed any time as an apprentice.

She snagged most of the headlines at the event when she boldly encouraged women to ‘use their voices’ rather than ‘find’ them, praising women for speaking out against sexual harassment.

Meghan had unknowingly veered into the most fundamental rule of being a royal – to stay out of politics.

She promoted the viral #TimesUp campaign, which aimed to create laws to punish companies which tolerated sexual harassment in wake of the Harvey Weinstein Hollywood scandal.

Although it was a noble cause, the creation of laws would obviously mean input from politicians, which is a big royal taboo.

‘Meghan’s energy and confidence here might not have been a surprise, given her career and campaign experience before meeting Harry,’ said the body language expert.

‘Meghan’s declaration of passion about women’s empowerment made her seem a dynamic and much-needed addition to the Firm.

‘There was a powerful difference between the more cautious, careful and rather slow-hand-on-the-tiller campaign approach of William and Kate and the warp-speed urgency, drive, passion and energy of Meghan. 

‘Kate was also heavily pregnant and looked and sounded tired here, sitting back in her seat while speaking softly and smiling politely.

‘Meghan clearly knew how to work and hold a room actively while Kate, as a royal, had only ever needed to adopt a more passive approach, as royals tend to command attention without any need for effort.’

Royal biographer Tom Bower wrote about Meghan’s speech at the Royal Foundation event in his 2022 book, Revenge.

He wrote that Meghan’s speech was based on her ‘virtuous thoughts’ and he claimed it caused Kate to react with a ‘frozen expression’.

As well as grabbing the headlines with her provocative speech, Meghan’s talk also caused traditional royalists to raise an eyebrow.

Bower continued: ‘While Meghan spoke, Harry spotted William’s rictus grin. Virtue signalling from a platform ignored the royals’ role of impartially to foster national unity.

‘She had not been invited to join the Royal Foundation to reinvent the Royal Family’s customs. Meghan, William silently feared, did not understand that the public expected mystique not familiarity.’

Judi added: ‘Sometimes a body language statement is perceptual rather than intentional, but high-profile people need to be aware of both aspects, especially at a global event like this.

‘As Kate speaks here, Meghan turns her head to offer some active listening signals: face-watching, micro-nodding and performing a gentle curling mouth smile to suggest encouragement.

‘But her glance downward and then back, and a large swallow could suggest evaluation thanks to the small eye cut-off. 

‘When Kate talks about them all coming together, Meghan looks down in a gesture that suggests a pensive moment. 

‘She suddenly turns her head away to the other side away from Kate, throwing a closed-lip smile in that direction.

‘She raises her left hand to rub the back of her neck under her hair, allowing her hair to fall in a masking gesture that means Kate can’t see her facial expression for a moment, but the others to her right can. 

‘She may well have done this in response to a comment from her right, but taken in this close-up clip, it looks like an “away” gesture, turning her face away from Kate and hiding her expression.

‘Rubbing the back of the neck is seen as a self-soothing gesture that can suggest discomfort or even disagreement. 

‘The problem with someone turning their head from you and hiding their face from you with a hair cloaking cut-off is that it can look like an aside, as though that person is sharing thoughts with others about your comments.     

‘Meghan does turn back and smile quite quickly here though, to suggest polite agreeableness

‘We can see Meghan use her hair as a cut-off or expression-hiding ritual during another, more famous part of this meeting, and here it is much more exaggerated.’

And then came the question from the presenter: Did the royals ever have disagreements?

William tried to laugh off the tricky question by responding with a drawn-out ‘Ohhhh yes’, with Harry jumping in quickly to clarify they were ‘healthy disagreements’. 

Judi said: ‘It’s when the group are asked about disagreements that they all chuckle knowingly.

‘Meghan drops her head at this point with her hair completely shielding her face and therefore masking her thoughts, although it’s clear she is laughing.

‘Although Kate laughs, she keeps her face visible to share the laugh, even tucking her hair behind one ear.

‘Meghan puts one hand out onto Harry’s arm and turns away from Kate, even hiding her face with both her hands at one point, before doing a similar hair-flick as she does in the first clip.

‘Meghan’s responses look natural, and she would often raise a hand to her face to whisper playfully when out at events with Kate, but when royals are on display, there’s a tendency to keep emotions and inner thoughts suppressed or hidden by the use of regal smiles or even a poker face.

‘Harry was clearly seething with emotions at this event, but we can see an effort to suppress and not declare them openly or to hide them from view as Meghan does.

‘While Meghan talks about her campaigns, he sits beside her grim-faced and often glancing down or rocking from side to side in his chair. 

‘He sucks his lips in and even bites at them at one point, but he forces a lightning smile to suggest a desire to at least act as though everything is perfect in the ill-fated “Fab Four”‘. 

When asked what the last thing they quarrelled about was, Harry also tried to play it off by joking they ‘come so thick and fast’.

William forcefully tried to continue the banter, quipping: ‘Is it resolved? We don’t know!’

Harry then attempted to steer the topic back towards the serious message, adding: ‘I think it’s really good we have got four different personalities and we all have that same passion to make a difference.’

He then added: ‘But we are stuck together for the rest of our lives,’ before Meghan quipped at the end ‘togetherness at its finest’.

At the end of the question, the presenter summed up the whole interview when she said: ‘Well you’re putting on a great show if [your last argument] is not resolved!’

Tina Brown, the former editor of Tatler and The New Yorker, wrote in her bestselling 2022 royal book The Palace Papers that Meghan’s brazen speech didn’t sit well with her future sister-in-law.

‘Few knew that it was she, after years of providing emotional support to her younger brother, James, as he struggled with clinical depression, who had been the prime mover of the foundation’s mental health campaign. 

‘It was crafted after careful consultation with mental health professionals, policy experts, and Palace advisers.’ (As a trio, Kate, Prince Harry, and Prince William launched Heads Together, the royals’ campaign for mental health awareness.)

‘Now here was Meghan championing a fashionable cause anointed by Hollywood and sure to make headlines. It was an awkward dynamic.’

Looking back on the event, the Royally Us podcast hosts Christine Ross and Christina Garibaldi noted it was seen as ‘the start of the downfall between the four of them’.

Ms Ross said: ‘At the time, we didn’t think anything of it, but when you go back and watch the clips from the event, it’s noticeable.’

A little over a year after the failed launch, on June 20, 2019, a statement was released announcing the Sussexes would be leaving the Royal Foundation and setting up their own charity.

After the launch, the ‘Fab Four’ would only appear together in the context of larger group royal engagements, like Trooping the Colour. 

Many commentators see the Royal Foundation Launch as the beginning of the end of the ‘Fab Four’.