Meghan Markle boarded the
royal train with the monarch in the morning—a train so special not even
her husband Prince Harry has had the honor of traveling on—up north in order to
open the Mersey Gateway Bridge.
It was the first time
that newly married Meghan, who was wearing a Givenchy dress, has
accompanied the Queen without Prince Harry. And as it was such a significant
event for the new royal, we wanted to know what was really going on
in her mind, so we asked body language expert, Judi James, what she made
of the occasion.
Meghan
Was—Understandably—Nervous
In several of the pictures, there’s
some hair touching/flicking action going on, which could indicate Meghan’s
nervousness.
“Meghan’s hair-touch
gesture looks like a fill-in gesture, i.e. one we perform when we’re not quite
sure what to do,” says Judi. “While the Queen looks as confident
as any woman who has been doing the job for a lifetime, the normally
uber-confident Meghan looks sweetly tentative and diffident here. Her
lowered head brings her hair around her face and her rather awkward arm
position suggests she’s still slightly in awe of her husband’s
grandmother.”
The
Queen Looked ‘Delighted’ to Have Meghan With Her
According to Judi, HRH’s
“narrowed-eyes and raised cheek smile” suggest she was delighted to
have Meghan by her side.
Meghan
Got More into Her Stride as The Visit Went on
Though she may have been
anxious, much of the way Meghan was interacting with the monarch suggests she
had prepared for the day out. As is protocol, she walked behind the Queen and
according to Judi, she was “diplomatic” when it came to her body
language, too.
The
Queen and Meghan Have ‘Fun’ Together
The standout picture from the
joint visit was of Meghan and the Queen having a right royal laugh – but is
there a deeper meaning? Or did someone tell a joke?
