Body language expert reveals why Meghan Markle holds her baby bump while Kate Middleton did not
14 January 2019, 17:03
Meghan Markle is currently pregnant with her first baby with husband Prince Harry, but the Duchess of Sussex is doing things very differently to sister-in-law Kate Middleton.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry announced they were expecting their first baby together only a few months after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex married at Windsor Castle.
Prince William’s younger brother and his former actress wife revealed in their statement the baby would be born in Spring 2019.
Since then, Meghan has treated the public to clear sightings of the growing baby bump, and is rarely seen without her hand placed lovingly on her belly.
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Recently, Meghan let slip she was six months pregnant to a member of the public during a royal engagement, also sharing that Harry and herself were not finding out the sex of the baby.
Meghan’s approach to being pregnant in the spotlight is very different to Kate Middleton’s.
For example, while we see Meghan constantly touching her bump and speaking openly about her pregnancy, Kate would rarely touch her bump and would only make small comments on her pregnancy.
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Body language expert Judi James shared her opinion on the two royal women’s approaches, explaining what they say about both Meghan and Kate.
Judi explained: “I think their individual behaviours reflect their approaches to being in the royal spotlight.”
Judi notes that Kate “has always been a rule-keeper” and that “as a future queen she does seem to adopt a less tactile and openly ‘sharing’ or conversational role in public”.
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Judi added that most of the footage of Kate when pregnant has shown the Duchess looking very “business as usual”, not making any changes because of her bump.
“Meghan is a bit of a rule-changer rather than a rule-breaker and she has brought a much more tactile and characterful approach to her body language appearances,” reveals Judi.
She added: “Meghan has been hugely conversational during her pregnancy, using the touching and cradling of her bump to create rapport with the people she meets.”
