DOUBLE DUCH
Why it’s no surprise ‘sexual’ Meghan Markle and ‘introvert’ Kate Middleton are having a ‘royal rift’
Judi James has analysed Meghan and Kate's very different personality traits
AFTER rumours of a “big rift” between Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton, body language expert Judi James has analysed their personalities and lifestyles.
Insiders have confirmed that Kate and Meghan are “very different people”. Whether or not rumours of frosty relations are accurate, it’s true that the women don’t seem to have all that much in common — obviously besides the incredibly unique positions they’ve found themselves in.
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Body language expert Judi James told Fabulous Online: “The more reserved Kate has been slowly, carefully and gradually growing into her role in the royal family to the point where she is now showing all the signs of becoming its matriarch.
“Meanwhile, Meghan's glamorous Hollywood lifestyle allowed her to integrate quickly and with much higher levels of confidence. She is a campaigner, feminist and a performer."
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Broken home v privileged upbringing
Kate and Meghan had very different upbringings, but both have very strong female role models.
Kate was born into an upper-middle-class family with parents who founded a party supply business now estimated to be worth around £30million.
Michael and Carole Middleton, and Kate’s siblings Pippa and James, appeared to ascend to their places in Britain’s high-class society with ease after the Royal Wedding in 2011.
Judi says Carole is "known for her dislike of cameras" and believes this may influence Kate shying away from the spotlight.
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Meanwhile, Meghan had a pretty typical American working-class upbringing.
Her parents, Doria Ragland and Thomas Markle, divorced when their daughter was six years old.
Doria has proven to be a constant source of support and strength to her daughter — and even scored herself an invitation from the Queen to join the royals for Christmas this year.
Judi believes Meghan may have got her love of the spotlight from her mum said: “Doria is a bit of a scene-stealer in her own right and mother and daughter do a perfect red carpet double act, suggesting a fun relationship and hinting that they both have a bit of the performance gene.
She said: “They pose like friends as well as parent-child and seem to have a shared love of the camera.”
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Meghan's relatives have given her and the royal family plenty of headaches.
Her estranged half-siblings Thomas Markle Jr has publicly referred to her as a “jaded, shallow, conceited woman that will make a joke of … the royal family heritage”, while half-sister Samantha has called Meghan a “narcissistic social climber”.
Unsurprisingly, there were no Markles at the royal wedding.
And while his intentions may be more pure, Meghan’s once-beloved father has frequently used the media to try to reach out to his daughter since bailing on walking her down the aisle in May.
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Packing on the PDA v being more reserved
Judi believes Kate is "more tactile" than Meghan and her touchy-feely behaviour is "sporadic rather than an ongoing and natural trait".
Meghan "uses constant types of touch to communicate with Harry when they are out in public";.
Judi added: "Her repertoire is large and includes intimate and quite sexual touch like the knee-pat, back-pats of control and arm-rubs of reassurance and ownership.
"She lets us and him know that they are a tight-bonded couple whereas Kate does this by her strong subliminal mirroring of William."
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Meanwhile, Judi believes Kate and William opt for a more traditional approach to public affection.
She said: "While Kate and William opted for the more traditional approach to royal PDAs, rarely touching or hugging one another in public, Meghan seems to have had emphatic touch rituals with Harry written into their marriage contract."
She says "reserved" Kate and William try and avoid the "soap opera" that surrounded his parents' relationship.
As second-in-line to the British throne, it’s likely William and Kate’s formality is due to a slightly heightened sense of professionalism, given that he’ll one day be King.
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Leading lady v career duchess
Judi believes Meghan's acting work has helped her adjust to life in the royal spotlight.
On giving speeches she said: "Meghan's style suggests a woman keen to communicate and comfortable with the audience attention while Kate's more reserved style suggests she is still slightly diffident and ill-at-ease behind the lectern.
"With Meghan, once she's grabbed the mic in one hand she can look more like a stand-up comic with her relaxed delivery and perfect timing."
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Meanwhile, Kate had a more middle-class upbringing, completing a History of Art degree at St. Andrew’s College — where she met Prince William — in 2005.
After graduation, she briefly worked for her parents’ company Party Pieces before landing a part-time job as an accessories buyer for London-based clothing store, Jigsaw Junior.
At one point in her early 20s, Kate was reportedly considering being a photographer but that was waylaid in 2010 when she and William announced their engagement.
While Kate was around 21 when she started dating William, Meghan was 35 at the time she met Harry, giving her many more years outside the royal bubble than her sister-in-law.
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In the early days of her career, Meghan worked as a freelance calligrapher to support herself between acting jobs, and had small guest roles on a few TV shows, including a stint on US game show Deal or No Deal.
She finally got her big break in 2011 when she joined the cast of Suits as leading character Rachel Zane, and stayed on the show until she moved to the UK to be with Harry in 2017.
Meghan was also editor-in-chief of her now-defunct lifestyle blog The Tig, a counsellor for international charity One Young World, a global ambassador for World Vision Canada and worked with the United Nations on issues relating to gender equality.
Rule-breaker v rule-keeper
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Kate is an avid rule-keeper not a rule-breaker so her sense of style is always more formal and traditional.
Judi said: "She uses brighter colours to be visible and she looks totally at home in hats and tailoring that look as though they could be quite difficult to carry off."
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Meghan's own natural style tends to be either modern casual, like the ripped jeans she first appeared in with Harry, or designer tailoring that can often look more businesslike than royal.
Judi added: "After looking slightly ill-at-ease in some of the more formal outfits she's currently developing her own formal style for royal occasions although she always looks happiest in something less structured that suits her more relaxed body language approach."
Confident bride v fairytale princess
Kate and William tied the knot on April 2011 at Westminster Abbey.
The bride wore bespoke Alexander McQueen and the congregation included the Beckhams and Elton John.
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Meanwhile, Meghan and Harry opted for a slightly smaller affair at Windsor Castle earlier this year but the guest list was just as starry with Oprah Winfrey and The Clooneys in the pews.
Although, after a family fallout, Meghan decided to break with many wedding traditions - including walking up the aisle alone.
Judi believes this is a test of her character, saying: "Meghan and Harry's wedding was all about the romance, emotion and drama with Meghan walking up the aisle alone displaying levels of confidence that were breathtaking.
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"Meanwhile, William and Kate's wedding signalled a return to more old-school royalty with Kate appearing as a perfect, fairytale princess with her prince.
"Her smile and her deportment were perfect and there were no signs of any emotional 'reveal' that could have been more telling of her genuine emotions."
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