Changing the narrative

PR specialist Mark Borkowski, speaking to The Telegraph, suggested that Harry and Meghan’s “separation of work” has been ongoing, particularly as Meghan develops her American Riviera Orchard brand. According to Mark, this shift arose because the “star power” they envisioned as a couple post-Royal Family “didn’t work.”

Mark elaborated: “They had to change the narrative. They need a venture that deflects from the failures. The charity aspect impresses upon everybody that he [Harry] does have value beyond the controversial stuff. It has the effect of separating them from the bad press and the failed content ideas. The punters still have time for Harry.”

Body language shift

Body language expert Judi James previously observed a marked shift in how Harry and Meghan present themselves publicly. Speaking to the Mirror, she described their evolution from a “twinning” dynamic to something more independent.

“Harry and Meghan’s relationship seems to have evolved from a totally twinned one, where their body language was confined to appearances as a matching, complimentary and very royal-looking double act, to one that resembles the shape of a letter Y; joined and twinned at the base but also separating into two individuals moving into two rather separate professional directions,” she explained.

Judi noted that their “sole trader” body language performances are occasionally balanced by appearances emphasizing their bond: “Theirs has always been laid out as a love story with a romantic core, and seeing them alone still tends to create a look of a lost limb, thanks to their previously constant love of touch, tie-signs, and other PDAs to provide a touching narrative that the world enjoys watching.”

She continued, “The recent ‘base of the Y’ appearance was a rather formal and regal video where Meghan threw Harry constant affectionate-looking glances to register besotted encouragement while he spoke, and Harry, more formally, failed to respond in kind apart from one rather rigidly extended arm placed around his wife’s back on the cue of the word ‘together.’

“The message was clearly one of ongoing bonds and togetherness, but for fans of the Harry and Meghan passionately romantic body language rituals, it was rather thin gruel. It will be sad for their fans if, despite their marriage being enduringly strong and loving, they have made a decision to tone down the PDAs.”