Is it weird that I have a huge couple crush on Meghan Markle and Prince Harry? They're pretty much the definition of couple goals. They're super hot, obviously in love, but most amazing of all, with under a month left before their May 19 wedding, they're still out pursuing their shared passion of championing human rights and the empowerment of women and girls. Yeah, I’m pretty much in love with these two. Their latest public appearance, the Women's Empowerment Reception, gives us another peek at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s body language in the lead-up to their wedding.
If you aren't fully sold on Harry and Meghan, let me tell you a little bit more about the event they attended. Brace for swooning. The goal of the reception was to promote women's empowerment and girls' education. In particular, finding ways to ensure more girls were able to get into schools and stay there. It was the perfect event for the couple, who are dedicated to human rights advocacy. Before meeting Harry, Meghan was an advocate for UN Women and worked on women's rights issues with World Vision, the Myna Mahila Foundation, One Young World, and Code Camp. How hot is that?
While the headline is really the good works this duo is doing, we just can't help but take advantage of every one of their public appearances to see what we can learn about their dynamic. To help decode their body language, we reached out to body language expert Patti Wood, author of Snap: Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language, and Charisma. Here's what she sees.
The first thing that strikes Wood about this image is Meghan’s expression, because it’s one she’s never seen her make before.
“What I like is that he’s laughing and she’s giving him that quasi-‘Really?' reproving look," Wood tells Elite Daily. "He’s being a little more playful and she wants to be a little bit more serious."
“He’s absolutely happy with open mouth, with upper and lower teeth showing [and he’s] teasing around with her and wants to get her little laugh back and she’s giving him an admonishing smile, ‘Let's be serious here' look," says Wood. Wood explains that's a sign that Meghan is very confident and secure in the relationship.
“I like that she gave him that little face in that photo because it tells me that she’s OK with admonishing him," says Wood. "She doesn’t feel like she has to keep on that mantle of formality and be good all the time."
In this photo, Wood sees a couple who is very comfortable and at ease with each other, despite the setting and the pressures of an upcoming wedding. This is in part because they work so well together.
“He’s a happy guy [who] he laughs a lot," Wood observes. "He doesn’t feel like he has to be overly clingy or protective to her. He just seems relaxed and easy-going about the situation, very comfortable."
Meghan has that same kind of ease with Harry, Wood says. “See how her body is slight back and looking up at him? She’s laughing and having that moment with him."
But what stands out to Wood most is how the two of them seem to always be in-sync.
“I like how she’s leaning down to connect and I like how Harry is right there connected, too," says Wood. "They're both smiling at the same moment and enjoying the same moment. This could be an extremely formal event, they could be stiff and tense but we see them together, they're relaxed together and enjoying it.”
Wood also points out that Meghan is showing that she is confident in taking the lead. “I like how she’s stepping forward, it says that she can break away from the side-by-side or a step-behind role, as well,” she says. Not a bad example to set at a women’s empowerment event!
So, overall, what does this mean for our favorite royal couple? To answer that, Wood takes a step back to take a more global view of the pair. Over the last several months, she’s spent a lot of time analyzing the couple and has become a bit of an expert on their dynamic. Here’s what she says about them now, in the final lead-up to the wedding.
“We see a connection between them. A sweetness. A lot shared laughter and humor. [They have the] ability to be in all sorts of events and to turn to each other and have a moment that excludes everybody else," she says. "That ability to laugh with each other, to stay close to each other, to touch each other — and it's just them communicating with each other — that tells me that there’s a strong relationship there, that she can be secure in. And she seems to be very secure in it.”
Yep, relationship goals all the way.
