What Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Polo-Field Affection Might Mean for Their Future
What Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Polo-Field Affection Might Mean for Their Future, For a British royal couple, there is only one landmark that really matters, one that says, “We are happening, and we mean business.” Sure, the first time they are seen out holding hands means something, we guess, and, yeah, an actual engagement is kind of important in terms of demonstrating commitment, too, yeah, that’s true. But a first polo-match outing together—that means . . . everything.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle offered quite a surprise over the weekend, as, with no warning whatsoever (there should really be mass text-message blasts to prepare us for this sort of thing), the twosome made an appearance on both days of the Audi Polo Challenge in Ascot, England. Markle looked very Classic Markle (blazer hanging off her shoulders, dark shades), as she watched Harry play from the stands.
In and of itself, this is the sort of appearance that would have British tabloid writers reaching for their, uh, iced tea and cold compresses, but there were a few aspects that made this weekend’s outing even more notable and potentially meaningful.
A furtive kiss. Thanks to some canny long-lens photography work, we know that Markle and Harry shared a kiss at the end of the match on Sunday, as they stood awkwardly sandwiched between two cars. Harry has been in the “game” long enough to know that this is the sort of interaction that is going to be captured by photographers. Why would they want to be photographed in a romantic, causal embrace? It’s possible there is no reason at all—maybe it’s just a “we’re in love and we don’t care who knows it!” gesture—but it could be that this is an intentional, further step in priming the public for an imminent engagement, or, at the very least, a continued seriousness.
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| What Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Polo-Field Affection Might Mean for Their Future |
Markle’s seatmate. Markle watched Saturday’s match next to Mark Dyer, a red-haired former army officer who is often called Harry’s “second father,” as he has been a mentor to Harry since his mother’s death, and was involved in helping things “run smoothly” during Harry’s previous high-profile relationships with Chelsy Davy and Cressida Bonas. Again, this further seems to emphasize: Markle is in.
The timing. This appearance comes two weeks before Pippa Middleton’s wedding, which, as we know, Markle will be attending alongside her boyfriend prince. Markle’s attendance is going to cause all sorts of commotion—can you imagine how the Internet will react if we get a photo of Markle helping Prince George cut a piece of cake, or whispering in Kate Middleton’s ear—and, again, the polo-match outings seem to be a signpost of sorts, familiarizing us further with the notion of Markle entering “the firm” before they attend some of these major formal occasions together.
Is an engagement even closer than we think? Might they—as some royal prognosticators have guessed—already secretly be engaged?! Will Markle reveal the engagement by wearing her ring to Pippa’s wedding for the first time, causing general pandemonium and the wedding to actually be postponed out of sheer confusion? We shall see.
