Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have now been together for over seven years, and the way they express love to each other in public has obviously evolved with their relationship.
These days, at least according to one body language expert, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex no longer feel as inclined to engage in as much PDA during their public appearances.
"Harry and Meghan’s relationship has evolved. When looking at their body language, their public displays of affection have changed drastically over the years," Darren Stanton told Hello!.
"When they started dating and became more established as an official couple, they were very affectionate in public, almost more affectionate than William and Kate."
The two began dating in 2016 and got engaged in 2017, and were often spotted with their hands clasped together, their arms around each other, gazing lovingly into each other's eyes, etc., etc., as you rightly might expect from any new couple.
"I feel that they have toned it down a bit in recent times," Stanton continued.
"I have seen their engaged eye contact has decreased and they aren't as tactile with one another. While they do love each other and they will do anything to support one another, we tend not to see them being as openly passionate.
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"Despite this, the pair clearly have huge levels of respect for each other, and are there for each other through everything."
While it's natural for couples who have been together several years to be less openly tactile, we don't know what goes on between them behind closed doors: It's possible that they have knowingly chosen to tone down their PDA following the huge amount of criticism they've endured over it.
Nowhere was this more apparent than when the Sussexes held hands during a service for the late Queen after her death in 2022, and received a ton of criticism for it—despite Mike and Zara Tindall doing the same and not getting any flak. If I was being treated that way, I too would stop opening myself up to all this unnecessary trolling by any means I could.
Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Bustle and Shape. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.
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