A body language expert has trawled through hours of footage to find the incredibly awkward moment Prince Harry allegedly scolded Meghan Markle like a “naughty kid”. The encounter is said to have taken place while the Royal Family appeared on the central balcony of Buckingham Palace for the Trooping the Colour ceremony in 2019.
Specialist Judi James said Meghan had been feeling “nervous” and “isolated,” causing her to turn her back during the ceremony, according to the MailOnline. Footage of the event shows royals chatting among themselves with Harry turning away from Meghan to speak to someone on his left.
Meghan then turns to speak to her husband, which Judi said was her attempt to find a “friendly face” among the fanfare and strike up a conversation. But instead of meeting her with a “loving smile” and explaining why she shouldn’t turn her back to the thousands gathering before, Harry appears to snap at Meghan and tells her off as though she was a mischievous child.
In the clip, Meghan turns to Prince Harry to say something, prompting a terse reply from Harry. At the time, a lip reader for the MailOnline claimed the prince saying “yes, that’s right,” to the Duchess.
But Meghan swings around once more, at which point Prince Harry appears to snap back: “Turn around”. When she continued to stare at him, Harry added: “Look,” while nodding towards the front of the balcony. The national anthem then begins to play and Meghan turns to face the crowd.
Jodi said Harry’s language at the time done little to “support or protect her”. She said: “He should have been the one royal responsible for hosting his wife in the UK and helping her navigate her way through the royal protocol rules. Instead, when she turns, his expression seems to remain impassive and at the second turn he appears to enforce royal protocol with a meaningful and rather authoritative eyebrow flash.”
Meghan looks visibly upset by the encounter. Judi said: “The gesture from Harry seems to look more like the way you might urge a naughty kid. Her facial expression looks unhappy as she turns.
“Her checking rituals suggest she is clearly trying to get it right but might prefer a kindly loving smile rather than the warning raise of the eyebrows here.” Judi said the awkward moment made it “hard” not to feel sympathy for Meghan.
She said: “She is still new to The Firm, and the balcony moments are the most formal and globally visible appearances of the Royal Family en masse. Standing high on a balcony while the public watch and cheers from below traditionally emphasises the superiority and higher-class status of the royals, which is why they often go to great lengths to ensure they ‘get it right.'”
This would turn out to be Meghan’s final appearance on the balcony. She and Harry stepped down as working royals in 2020. Meghan isn’t the only Royal to be harangued on the balcony.
In 2016, the late Queen was seen tapping Prince William’s arm after he had crouched down to tend to Prince George. A close look at the moment shows the late monarch telling William to “stand up” and then gesturing with an upward motion of her hand.
