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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Frances Kindon

Kate and Meghan's lack of 'tie-signs' at Wimbledon hinted at tension, claims expert

It's been five years since Kate Middleton and her sister-in-law, Meghan Markle, put on a giggly courtside display at Wimbledon.

Under the gaze of the world, the Duchess of Cambridge and the Duchess of Sussex joined forces for the men's semi final in 2018, laughing and joking as they enjoyed their shared passion.

Many hoped their bond would mirror that of Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson, who became inseparable after marrying brothers, Prince Charles and Prince Andrew.

But as we now know, behind the scenes tensions were rising between Prince Harry and Prince William and their respective wives.

It was just before Meghan and Harry's 2018 wedding that she and Kate had a now infamous row. According to Meghan, Kate made her cry at a bridesmaid dress fitting. According to those close to Kate, it was the other way around.

Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle made their first appearance at Wimbledon in 2018 (Daily Mirror)

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But few would have known that when the duo stepped out at Wimbledon just weeks later.

The following year brought yet another friendly outing, this time with Meghan sandwiched between Kate and her little sister Pippa Middleton.

But behind the smiles and enthusiasm, body language expert Judi James says that by that point, it was clear to see that tensions were brewing - and the giveaway wasn't so much in what they did do, as opposed to what they didn't do.

"Their first visit to Wimbledon came at a time when expectations were still running high that these two women might be best friends," Judi told The Mirror of their 2018 debut.

Meghan once again joined Kate courtside in 2019 (PA)

"What we saw from their body language then was a display of politeness that didn’t totally suggest close friendship bonds. Kate looked like a well-mannered host and Meghan appeared to enjoy her company but there were few if any convincing signals of anything more intimate.

"As early-days rituals though it did seem to leave the door part-way open in terms of relationship-forming.

"The laughter looked shared and authentic but there was no real consequent relaxing of posture or increase in tie-signs or eye-checking signals to suggest these were the first stages in a growing friendship."

Then in 2019, Judi says there were clear indications of trouble in paradise, especially given the complete lack of friendship signals you would expect to see 12 months on.

"By the time of the second visit there did appear to be some subtle signs of potential tension from Kate, who seems to have taken a more ‘adult’ stance," Judi continued.

"Kate was still very much the polite and friendly host but it is pretty obvious the bonding signals were showing no signs to hint of any growing or matured levels of closeness or rapport behind the scenes.

Judi said she would have expected to see stronger signals of a growing friendship (PA)

"The two women laughed together and even turned together to chat to someone behind them but as they turned back their smiles seemed to drop at about the same time.

"By now you could expect to see more exchanged glances, mirroring and more softening of the facial expressions when they talked to one another but there were no signs of any progression along those lines.

"Meghan had been placed in between Kate and her sister Pippa which looked like a signal of family unity, but it did seem to show up how Meghan tended to mirror Pippa more than Kate and to relax a little more while she was talking to her.

"Neither of these women would produce any active signals of dislike or unfriendliness but it’s the lack of any progression of friendship signals that seemed to imply their relationship had stalled, despite efforts to put on a show of unity in public. Both must have been aware that their husbands were struggling with their rift and this would have made it even more difficult."

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