Meghan Markle and Prince Harry lap up warm reception in Africa after run of UK criticism
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have managed to escape being regularly attacked by the press — but experts say they revealed a change in their relationship since having Archie.
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Shiny, happy people, holding hands.
If there was a soundtrack to Prince Harry and Meghan’s royal tour of Africa, REM’s 1991 hit Shiny, Happy People would be a good choice.
The royal couple appear to love the escape of being 13,000km from the pressure cooker of London where they cannot seem to win a trick with the British public.
In Africa, they are doing what they do best, campaigning for charitable causes and putting some perspective on life.
Now a body language expert has revealed her insights afrer reviewing photographs of the royal couple.
When she looked at the photos of Archie with Meghan and Prince Harry, Dr Louise Mahler said she’d never seen Meghan “so relaxed”.
But the couple now have a “secret language” between them.
“Her face is completely contorted in uncontrollable laughter. Baby Archie is also laughing and captivated and Harry hold Archie’s foot, holding back the laughter himself,” she said.
“The fact that Meghan is laughing so heartily and Harry is holding it back, says to me that they have a secret language.
“Usually when a couple are close, one would laugh and the other would laugh.
“Here, Harry gets the joke, but he remains the straight face of the group.
“It is beyond a usual couple’s rapport and moves into the realm of a ‘professional couple facing the camera’ with their own rules. Just because one loses it, doesn’t mean the other has to. Someone has to keep a straight face!”
Visiting the mental health charity Waves for Change earlier this week, they laughed and held hands with surfers on Monwabisi beach, 38km southeast of Cape Town and shared their views on parenting and each other.
Meghan declared Harry “the best dad”. Harry called her “the best mum.”
There was even a tender kiss, with the couple still clearly in the honeymoon period of their relationship as they share the joy of their baby boy Archie, who will be five months next week.
They have been relaxed, comfortable and in control of events as they campaign for women’s rights and the protection of the environment.
But one Australian body language expert has identified a change in their dynamic, with Prince Harry taking a backwards step and Meghan, who is “besotted” with her child, the dominant one in the relationship.
“She’s moving first while Harry falls behind,” said Allan Pease.
“It’s now the Meghan and Archie show, with some red-headed, bearded bloke in the background, trying to get a look in.”
Pease, the author of The Definitive Book of Body Language said that as she was a professional actress, it was difficult to know who “the real Meghan is”, but she was taking on a similar role to Harry’s late mother Diana in terms of how she connected with people and was openly tactile with members of the public.
“The royal family, as a company, needs someone like her who people adore,” he said.
It’s a far cry from the negative headlines about their private jet travel, as the world gets a chance to see what the couple are passionate about.
Regular royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams, a former editor of The International Who’s Who, said they were genuinely interested in making positive changes in the world.
He said Meghan had been particularly impressive.
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“You can see why she is such a hit with the crowds, she looks great going on the solo events,” he said.
The big change has been how relaxed they have been in Africa, which Harry has previously described as his “second home”.
Meghan left her engagement ring at home to go low-key as she met mothers living with HIV and young children living in the murder capital of Cape Town.
Harry dumped the tie, looking relaxed in a casual shirt and light coloured suits.
The couple did, however, dress up when they went to visit one of the heroes of the anti-Apartheid movement, Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
They took along little Archie, who was cute as a button in blue dungarees and matching booties, and a limited number of photographers were allowed into the meeting to capture heartwarming pictures of the young royal, who had previously been protected from the spotlight.
Meghan was visibly moved when she met mothers living with HIV at a charity in Cape Town.
One of the staff at the charity mothers2mothers, Limpho Nteko, shared her story of how her baby died as a result of HIV after just three weeks.
Sitting on the floor and playing with children as she heard the story, Meghan showed great compassion.
Harry, who has always been good with children, knelt down to talk to a young boy in the shanty town of Nyanga, on the first day of the tour.
Three children between the ages of 10 and 12 were shot dead there last week because they were watching television while an older teenager was murdered as the killer did not want witnesses.
There have been a couple of awkward moments though.
Harry looked a little uncomfortable when he visited the Auwal mosque, the oldest in South Africa built in 1794.
Photographs show Harry beside Meghan inside the mosque, looking a little bored.
British TV host Piers Morgan, who has openly battled the royal couple after he was dropped as a friend of Meghan after she started dating Harry, tweeted the photograph, adding: “Do you think Harry wishes he was back playing naked billiards in Vegas?”
The former editor of The Mirror newspaper in London was referring to the infamous photograph of Harry playing “strip billiards” in Las Vegas in 2012.
The photograph went viral before eventually being published on the front page of The Sun newspaper in London.
However, when the couple were walking through the Bo-Kaap area after visiting the mosque, they were in their element again.
Crowds cheered and shouted as they stopped and chatted to well wishers.
The couple seemed genuinely interested, this wasn’t for the cameras.
Suancuna, 7, met the Duchess in Bo-Kaap, a former slave area of Cape Town with a large Muslim population.
She said: “I thought she was very pretty, I thought she was brilliant.”
Yakhani Siwundla, 9, shook Harry’s hand and received a hug from Meghan.
“I got to shake his hand and then I met the princess who gave me a hug, it felt nice, it was sweet. She asked me for a hug,” he said.
Liz Goussard, 35, of Cape Town, also spoke with Meghan in the Bo-Kaap area.
“She didn’t say much to me, but I did say that I love her and that she’s gorgeous,” she said.
“I said to her that she is a real asset to the British monarchy and she turned around and was like, ‘Thank you so much’. I just think she’s really gorgeous and she and Harry will move mountains. There’s so much hate towards her and I think people just need to welcome her with open arms.”
And that’s the impact of Harry and Meghan.
For all the critics — who granted have had some decent fodder in recent months — the people love them.
And Harry’s love of the environment and determination to stand up for climate change science, which may not be popular in some circles, is genuine.
“There is an emergency, it’s a race against time and one in which we are losing, and everyone knows it,” Harry said in Botswana.
“There is no excuse for not knowing, that I think (is) the most troubling part of it is — I don’t believe there is anybody in this world that can deny science, undeniable science and facts.
“Science and facts that have been around the last 30, nearly 40 years, and it’s only getting stronger and stronger.
“Genuinely I don’t understand how anyone in this world, whoever we are, you, us, children, leaders, whoever it is, no-one can deny science, otherwise we live in a very, very troubling world.”
His love for Africa, which he has called his second home after he healed here following the death of his mother Princess Diana has also shone through.
The royal couple are now so far down the line of succession to the throne, expect them to do more outside the UK as they push their global brand.
The Queen, 93, is expected to keep scaling down on her appointments while Prince Charles takes over more of her duties.
And then it’s up to William and Kate to do the heavy lifting, with Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis all in line before Harry.
That gives him, and by extension Meghan and Archie, greater freedom to be themselves.
Just wait until they visit America.
Additional reporting: Zoe Smith
Originally published as Meghan Markle and Prince Harry lap up warm reception in Africa after run of UK criticism