The gathering for the late Queen’s lying in state was envisioned as a significant chance for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to mend fences with the Royal Family.

As the globe tuned in attentively, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex proceeded behind Harry’s estranged sibling, Prince William, and sister-in-law, Kate, demonstrating unity while honoring the late Monarch.

However, amid the solemn procession through Westminster Hall, a noticeable distinction emerged between the Sussexes and the Prince and Princess of Wales—their habit of holding hands.

Throughout their brief period as active Royals, Harry and Meghan became recognized for their affectionate hand-holding, often seen as a comforting gesture amidst the challenges they faced within the royal circle.

Despite appearing as an innocent display of affection, the couple’s frequent hand-holding carries a deeper significance, according to body language specialist Judi James.

In a conversation with The Daily Mail, Ms. James explained, “That hand clasp was likely used by Harry to guide his wife during their public appearances as a royal couple.”

‘Meghan tended to gravitate towards other top-tier royals, treating them like relatives, rather than keeping back and adhering to protocol. 

‘Harry’s hand is very firmly on top in this clasp and although that does signal a desire to protect, it also shows a tendency to lead, or in this case to possibly check.’ 

As Ms James asserts, Harry sought to ‘steer’ Meghan ‘slightly’ in a desperate bid to prevent her from breaking royal protocol by storming ahead during such a ‘highly choreographed event’.

Meanwhile, in line with Harry and Meghan’s frequent deviation against the Royal norm, their use of hand holding was also, Ms James claims, a use of ‘statement body language’ in which the pair ‘deliberately did not follow the rest of the group’.

Going against the expected choreography, in which the couples all kept a ‘large spatial gap between them with no touching or communication’, Harry and Meghan issued a ‘rebellious statement’, both in terms of their positioning and distancing. 

An intentional ‘rebuke’ in contrast to the physically distanced couples walking ahead of them, Ms James described their body language as a signal of their desire to be perceived as a ‘closely welded couple’ who present a ‘non-negotiable romantic narrative’.

Indeed, Meghan’s seeming inability to abide by royal protocol may be as a result of the former Suit’s actress meeting her prince later in life, with such rules an ‘alien’ concept as a result.

Meghan’s ‘very free Hollywood lifestyle’ compared to her husband’s experiences of being strictly constrained by royal protocol and tradition, seems to suggest a slight disconnect in how the pair proceed in such environments.

In contrast, however, William and Kate’s ‘very intense trait of mirroring’ and the Princess of Wales’ seemingly natural ability to follow protocol comes as a result of her long courtship with her now-husband.

As a result of the pair’s numerous public appearances even prior to their fairytale wedding, William and Kate were not forced to take non-verbal cues from each other due to their experience in the necessary synchronicity required for Royal engagements.

But, for Meghan, such synchronicity may not have come so naturally. 

Indeed, during the so-called ‘Windsor Walkabout’ which had taken place just a few days prior, Meghan received stark criticism for allegedly breaking Royal protocol. 

Just two days after the late Queen’s passing, William and Kate wandered alongside the Sussexes to inspect the vast sea of floral tributes laid outside of the Berkshire estate.

But the awkwardness of the highly anticipated event was so great that Kate later recalled that she had found it ‘one of the hardest things she’d ever had to do’, according to royal author Robert Jobson in his book, Our King.

Royal protocol traditionally dictates that more senior royals, in this case William and Kate, walk ahead of junior members.

But striking footage from the walkabout showed Harry seemingly having to pull his wife back with his arm and intentionally slow down his walking pace to stop her from walking ahead of his older brother.

As Ms James points out, the Windsor walkabout offered ‘even more scope for Meghan pushing ahead’ during a ‘very important appearance’ that required ‘a very regal demeanour’.

And so, as the once-beloved ‘Fab Four’ turned past the gate of Windsor Castle with the eyes of the world upon them, the Duke was quick to ensure his wife abided by protocol during such a crucial moment by using a firm hand grasp. 

Ms James notes that Harry’s hand ‘appears to guide his wife’ due to her ‘natural tendency to bunch up and socialise’. 

It was the first time the two couples had all appeared in public together since Commonwealth Day on March 9, 2020, Harry and Meghan’s final royal engagement before leaving the UK.

Ms James adds that as the group engaged in their very well choreographed inspection of the sea of flowers and tributes, Harry attempts to ‘keep Meghan in check silently’, allowing his estranged brother and Kate to slowly wheel around them in order to remain up ahead.

Describing Meghan’s insistence to ‘set off at a faster speed’ as both ‘natural and spontaneous tendencies’, Ms James notes that Harry has to think fast and run his hand around hiw wife’s arm and back in order to try and gesture her closer. 

Examining the group’s body language in that crucial moment, Ms James adds: ‘Meghan appears to edge away and towards William and Kate, giving what is perhaps a glimpse of why Harry needs to keep their hands tightly clasped.’

Indeed, the instance was not the first time Meghan had drawn controversy for seemingly being prepared to go against royal protocol.

At another point in the Windsor Walkabout, Meghan made another etiquette faux pas when it came to dealing with the bunches of flowers handed to grieving royals.

Royal protocol dictates that when a member of the Firm is handed flowers they should pass them back to their private secretaries and personal assistants.

Aides will then lay the flowers properly, allowing the royals to keep their hands free to shake hands with more mourners.

There is also a more serious reason: the bouquets could contain dangerous substances or explosives, so royals are not meant to carry them.

But footage from the occasion seems to show Meghan ignoring this practice and turning away the aide, alter identified as Lee Thompson, who tried to help her correct the mistake.

When approached by the staff member who wanted to take the growing number of bouquets from her, a clip showed the royal initially saying she would place them at the gates herself.

A lip reader later revealed to Daily Mail that he said to her: ‘Would you like any help with those at all?’

But Meghan responds by saying, ‘Oh thanks some are over there (or they may have said I’ll put them over there)’, as she points ahead of her.

Even during the Duchess’s short time as a senior working royal, the scope for resistance to tradition was notably high. 

In June 2018, Meghan was seen sat with Harry and the late Queen at the Young Leaders Awards Ceremony at Buckingham Palace – one of her first engagements with them.

However, while female members of the Royal Family are expected to sit with their legs together and/or crossed at the ankle, Meghan seemed to have trouble remembering this instruction and often closed her legs instinctively.

While sat alongside her husband and new grandmother-in-law, Meghan crossed her legs at the knee before then correcting herself and slanting them to the side.

Royal fans later accused Meghan of being ‘disrespectful’ towards the Queen.

Earlier the same month she attended an opening of a new bridge across the River Mersey in Cheshire – her first joint engagement with the Queen.

Footage which circulated on social media showed her stepping out in front of the monarch, breaking one of the most important – and easily remembered – royal protocols.

Despite the error, the Queen and Meghan seemed to get on well and the Duchess was photographed making her grandmother-in-law laugh.

Although conversations with the Queen are usually private, Harry later revealed in his 2023 memoir Spare that the pair bonded over their love of dogs.

In a family so steeped in tradition and protocol, its members were taught royal etiquette and traditions by household staff from a young age.

As Meghan had married into the Firm at the age of 36, she had obviously not been brought up to appreciate all of the rules of life in the limelight like her husband.

The American actress had to learn how to give a proper royal handshake, stand up when the Queen does, avoid any PDA and remember not to sign any autographs.

Her training also included how to greet dignitaries – and expect to be greeted – as well as how to behave on royal engagements and the intricacies of palace life.

According to royal biographer Tom Quinn in his 2023 book, Gilded Youth, Meghan had been ‘shocked by the Palace protocol and by the fact that she was not and never could be first in the pecking order’. 

Much like Harry felt like a ‘spare’ to William, Meghan hated being a ‘second-rate princess’ to Kate, the royal author wrote.

‘Most of all, she hated the fact that she had to do what she was told and go where she was told in the endless and to a large extent pointless royal round.

‘She was a global superstar but was being told what she could and could not do, what she could and could not say. She hated it.’

The Windsor Walkabout offered a vital opportunity for Meghan and Harry to show a united display of strength as the ‘Fab Four’ stepped out together in front of the eyes of the world for the first time in more than two years.

But while their long-awaited reunion was hoped to mark an end to any pre-existing tensions between the foursome, Kate chose to distance herself from Meghan and even ‘went into self-preservation mode’, Ms James added.

Describing Kate as being on a ‘rescue mission for William’, she told The Daily Mail: ‘Kate appeared to use spatial behaviour and distancing to make her own point about group dynamics and a lack of desire to turn an homage to a dearly-loved Queen into a soap-style drama.’

Noting that she was seen ‘walking apart from the others’, Ms James added: ‘her body language suggested a very focused future Queen wanting to pay her respects to a late Queen with the kind of decisive firmness and resolve that Elizabeth II was famous for.’

It came as relations between the Sussexes and the remainder of the Royal Family remained at an all time low following a series of blistering attacks over the previous year.

The Harry & Meghan Netflix documentary in December criticised King Charles as a father before taking a swipe at the choice of wives by male members of the Firm.

Meanwhile the Duke’s bombshell memoir Spare dealt further blows to the reputation of the monarchy.

Harry accused his brother of assault, branded his stepmother a ‘villain’ and repeatedly spoke of the family’s ‘unconscious bias’ when it comes to race.

Fresh off the Hollywood boulevard, Meghan had been thrust headfirst into the grandeur of the British Royal Family in a manner she perhaps never quite anticipated.

And so, in spite of the simmering hostilities on that particular day, Harry’s years of training as a young Royal remained at least somewhat ingrained in his psyche as he sought to guide his inexperienced Princess through the necessary protocols.