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It was reported earlier this week that Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh was “relieved” that she no longer has to curtsey to Meghan Markle as she now ranks above her in royal hierarchy. A friend of the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh told the Daily Mail: “Sophie is relieved. She no longer has to curtsy to someone in the family who has not only left royal duties but has spent the past three years criticising the institution that Sophie works so hard to support.” This “relief” doesn’t come as a surprise as, according to a body language expert, since Prince Harry and Meghan left the UK in 2020, it seems “Sophie has picked a side, and it is not Team Sussex”.
Looking at Harry, Meghan, and Sophie’s past body language traits, one photograph stood out for body language expert Judi James.
Taken during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June last year, it shows Harry and Meghan arriving at their seats inside St Paul’s Cathedral, ready for the Thanksgiving Service to begin.
As they arrived, Prince Edward greeted them with a smile, but Sophie is looking “daggers” at Harry, Judi claimed.
Speaking of Sophie and Harry, Judi continued: “Several years ago it would have been inconceivable that these two popular, upbeat and apparently untroublesome royals, who both seemed to lift any royal room they walked into, would be anything other than close.
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“Sophie was the one with the calm, ever-smiling, down-to-earth body language and Harry was the fun Prince, and both did a lot to show the natural and more human side of the royal Firm.
“But with Harry’s exit and his constant revelations from the US, Sophie does seem by her body language to have very much picked her side, and it is not Team Sussex.
“If you were placing bets, the money might have gone on her husband Edward being the one cutting Harry socially while Sophie tried to act as soother and peace-maker, but the opposite does seem to be true.”
Judi noted that this “adds some weight to the current story that she is ‘relieved’ that her new title of Duchess of Edinburgh means she won’t have to curtsey to Harry and his wife”.
“Along with her normal role as peace-maker and calm-keeper in the Firm, Sophie has always seemed to be a fiercely loyal royal who was utterly devastated at the deaths of Prince Philip and the Queen,” Judi continued.
“It could have been that loyalty that appeared to produce at least two body language moments that would quite openly suggest her real feelings for Harry.”
Judi noticed Sophie’s more hostile body language during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, but also during Prince Philip’s funeral, back in 2021.
“Harry was walking out of Philip’s funeral service alone and had to pass Sophie and her daughter on the way out,” the body language expert recalled.
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“It was hard not to feel some sympathy for Harry, who was also about to have the famous awkward chat with his brother William that Kate very carefully choreographed.
“It might have been expected that Sophie would, like Kate, take some steps to break the ice, but she didn’t appear to acknowledge Harry at all.”
As for the moment inside St Paul’s Cathedral, Judi said: “It was hugely atmospheric and no one could have been unaware they had arrived to take their place in the pews, especially as Harry stopped to chat to Beatrice and Eugenie.
“Edward had turned with an expression of recognition and a smile of what looked like affection and welcome on his face.
“Sophie had part-turned, but with a very different facial expression. There was no trace of a smile and her eye expression looked as though it could have wilted flowers at fifty paces.
“During the hugely awkward and painful Commonwealth Service that was Harry and Meghan’s last public appearance before they quit the UK, Edward and Sophie seemed to have been enlisted to act as ice-breakers and air-bags between the Sussexes and the Cambridges,” Judi added.
“But that was before the Oprah interview and Harry’s book Spare wreaked their damage.
“This cold stare or glower might possibly have preceded a warm social smile of greeting from Sophie but, even if it did, there’s a stronger possibility that she was letting her authentic feelings be known first.”
