Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle Are Not Feuding, According to a Body Language Expert

Body language expert Patti Wood examines images of Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle from the recent Sandringham Christmas church service and explains why the two duchesses are definitely not feuding.

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(Image credit: Mark Cuthbert)

Despite their wonderful lives filled with travel and tiaras, royals are certainly not immune to negative gossip. And sadly, Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle (and the whole Fab Four in general, really) have been plagued by rumors of a feud for months now.

Kate has denied these rumors. Even Buckingham Palace has denied them. And yet still, they persist. The latest "evidence" of a rift between Prince William, Prince Harry, and their wives came just before Christmas, when reports surfaced that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would bunk with the Queen and the rest of her holiday guests in the main house at her Sandringham Estate instead of staying with Will and Kate and their kids in Anmer Hall, a separate house on the property. Clearly, this rumor is not the kind of thing the gossip mill plans to let die a quiet death on its own.

So, we decided to get very scientific about the whole issue and talk to an objective third party about whether or not these feud rumors seem to have any real merit.

The Royal Family Attend Church On Christmas Day

(Image credit: Stephen Pond)

Body language expert Patti Wood analyzed pictures of the Fab Four—and, more specifically, of Kate and Meghan—interacting with each other on their way to Christmas morning church services in Sandringham yesterday and concluded that the feud rumors are totally ridiculous. Here's why:

They're all walking in step, which is basically impossible when you're "feuding":

The Royal Family Attend Church On Christmas Day

(Image credit: Samir Hussein)

"See how they're laughing, how they're all walking in sync?" Wood says. "It's really difficult to do that if you really, really don't like somebody or if you have a conflict with somebody. Your body goes against matching and mirroring. So that's a really good tell."

Kate is holding her purse away from Meghan to make sure there's LITERALLY nothing between them:

The Royal Family Attend Church On Christmas Day

(Image credit: UK Press Pool)

"Kate has her purse in between her and Will and I don't typically like that, but I think because of the controversy in the media around her relationship with Meghan, she might just be making an effort to make sure that relationship looks good and there's no blocking or barrier between them," Wood explains.

Their arms are loose and natural:

The Royal Family Attend Church On Christmas Day

(Image credit: Mark Cuthbert)

"Look at Kate's arm, how it's hanging out away from her body towards Meghan; see how there's that nice space out from her body and the elbow's back and it's moving naturally? She would pull that in closer to her body, there would be more tension, the elbow would probably be straight out—it would be what I call more of a Melania move where the limb goes closer to the body and it's just stiff and straight down, but instead it's moving naturally. That's a really big tell because limbs go in close to the body and tighten and stiffen if you're feeling tense around somebody," explains Wood.

They're both looking up—and people who don't want to be around each other look down.

The Royal Family Attend Church On Christmas Day

(Image credit: Mark Cuthbert)

"Both of their heads are nice and elongated," Wood points out. "If you feel the need to protect, and you're trying to hide what your true emotions are, your head goes slightly down. I went through all of the photos and looked for any pull down or turtling of the head and no, there's none of that in these photos."

So there you have it—an objective, third party promise that there is no secret royal feud between Kate and Meghan.

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Kayleigh Roberts
Weekend Editor

Kayleigh Roberts is a freelance writer and editor with more than 10 years of professional experience. Her byline has appeared in Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, The Atlantic, Allure, Entertainment Weekly, MTV, Bustle, Refinery29, Girls’ Life Magazine, Just Jared, and Tiger Beat, among other publications. She's a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.