KEY POINTS

  • Kate Middleton will be instrumental during the royal family's reunion with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
  • Kate Middleton is a great family pacifier
  • Prince William showed signs of anxiety during Ireland visit

Queen Elizabeth II needs Kate Middleton during Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s return.

The Duchess of Cambridge will be instrumental when the royal family reunite with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex following the latter’s exit. Prince Harry and Markle are set to join the members of the Firm at the Commonwealth Day service. It would be their first public reunion following the shocking Megxit.

According to royal expert Angela Mollard in the “ROYALS” podcast, it would be Prince Harry and Markle’s final royal engagement before they could live in Canada permanently. She added that Middleton being a “great family pacifier” could help the Queen avoid “disastrous” situations which would happen if the public senses that the members of the royal family have no connection.

“I hope that we see friendliness between them, I hope we see them speaking to each other. I think it would be disastrous if there was no connection at all, absolutely disastrous. That would fully confirm that this was a major miss for the Queen and the Royal Family,” Mollard said.

“I think their PR teams respectively will want to put on a united front. I think Kate in these situations always looks like the great family pacifier, she is always smiling and laughing. She will be instrumental in what happens on that day,” she added.

Meanwhile, days before the royals’ reunion, Prince William and Middleton flew to Ireland for a three-day state visit. According to body language expert Judi James, the future king was showing dramatic changes.

The Duke of Cambridge’s actions manifested signs of anxiety. James said that there are two possible reasons for that, Middleton’s alleged pregnancy and Prince Harry’s return. However, she felt that it was more of the latter.

“I’m afraid I’m veering towards the Harry effect though. Since Harry left the UK and the royal firm William, Kate and Charles have been doing some industrial-strength masking in terms of looking desperately happy in what must have been a bid to paper over the cracks and show it’s business as usual. William did use some of the same smiles today but these glimpses of what looks potentially like worry or even anguish suggest he might have found the re-meet difficult,” James explained.

Another expert said that Prince William was not as confident and engaged as his wife. Handwriting expert Emma Bache examined Prince William and Middleton’s signature after they signed a guestbook and she felt that Prince William tried to be confident based on his strokes, but he was unengaged and his emotions seemed to be elsewhere.

Queen Elizabeth II and Kate Middleton
Kate Middleton and Queen Elizabeth II during a Diamond Jubilee Nottingham visit on June 13, 2012, in England.  Getty Images/Phil Noble