The Sussexes raised eyebrows with their very tactile displays during the Invictus Games, so fans were surprised to discover they will be spending the most romantic day of the year apart

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made headlines with their highly tactile and loved-up appearances at the Invictus Games.

So, it has come as a surprise to their fans to learn that the couple will be spending Valentine’s Day apart this year – and it’s a date in the calendar that the Duchess of Sussex previously said is ‘special’ to her. After packing on the PDA and gushing about each other at the tournament, Meghan left her husband in Canada on Tuesday in order to fly home to get back to their children, Archie and Lilbet.

Meghan, 43, spent five days at the competition after arriving in Vancouver alongside Harry, 40, on Friday afternoon. Aides kept her travel plans under wraps for security reasons, but it is understood she had always planned to leave the event early.

Meghan cut her trip short as the Games continue ( 
Image:
Humphrey Nemar/staff Photographer.)
Before Meghan’s departure, the couple made a point of putting on an affectionate display with Meghan expressing her overwhelming pride in her husband. They enjoyed the show from the stands, danced away to pop hits and cosied up with champagne.

A passionate on-stage kiss was shared by the affectionate duo, and they also made rare comments about their young children. While returning to Archie and Lilibet is clearly at the centre of Meghan’s decision to leave, she will be disappointed not to be spending Valentine’s Day with her husband.

Meghan previously spoke of her love for the celebration on her blog The Tig, writing: “Hook, line and sinker, I am such a sucker for Valentine’s Day. Without fail, every February 14th, I wake up feeling like I’m immersed in a Robert Doisneau photo, waiting with bated breath to be dipped into a kiss.

“This is all happening in black and white, of course. And in Paris, if I had my way. But delusions of francophile grandeur aside, Valentine’s Day is special wherever you happen to find yourself.”

Harry and Meghan’s loved-up display in Canada was a marked difference from their tour of Colombia in September 2024, when experts suggested Harry seemed “distant” and “hesitant” in contrast to his wife, who seemed to be “running the show”.

Following their return from South America, the Duke and Duchess then embarked on a series of solo engagements and outings – perceived as a ‘professional split’ by some experts – and as a result, were plagued by divorce rumours, something Harry later addressed.

Body language expert Judi James has examined the change in Harry and Meghan’s dynamic, and told the Mirror that the public have been presented with a “state of eternal honeymoon re-boot through a deluge of romantic statements, both verbal and non-verbal, from Meghan”.

Judi said: “Meghan’s romance signals with her husband on this trip look like deliberate and emphatic ‘statement’ displays. They don’t veer from their normal signals of love but they do appear to suggest something of a re-brand, as though they’ve left both fans and critics to wait for too long and that she now wants to show that the Harry and Meghan romance narrative is still firmly on track.”

The expert continued: “Her introduction of Harry on stage in Canada involved the kind of coy, eye-rolling, knowing asides to the audience of your average newlywed. Meghan’s coyness over a marriage of six years suggests she is still in a state of blushing swoon over her wonderful ‘husband and father to my two children’.”

She further noted that Meghan’s ‘touch rituals’ have only intensified during their time in Canada. “The couple have tended to retain their signature hand clasp over the past couple of years but now Meghan is using ‘limpet’ behaviours, clinging to Harry’s arm with one hand and holding his free hand with her other.

“She has been resting her head on his shoulder as though on a date night and her ‘seal clapping’ at him and even her filming or photographing him suggests a born-again adoration of the man she’s already made it pretty clear that she loves.

“There is now facial touch and back of the neck strokes. When Harry stood to take his turn onstage during the opening ceremony, Meghan cupped his face in her hands to bestow a kiss on him, making him look like her own hero in a stadium full of actual war heroes.”