Expert: Harry dismisses protocol and ‘royal-splains’ to Meghan in 2018
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Less than two months after a fairy-tale wedding to Prince Harry at Windsor’s St George’s Chapel, the world held its breath as Meghan Markle made her second appearance on the balcony of Buckingham Palace . The former Suits star and her newlywed husband stood alongside several other members of the Firm including Prince William , Princess Catherine and the late Queen for the RAF Centenary on July 10, 2018. Yet rather than the royal rookie, it was actually a ‘smug’ Harry that stood out as a key ‘culprit’ of ‘royal social climbing’ and was seen ‘royal-splaining’ to his wife, according to renowned body language expert Judi James .
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As the Royal Family stood to watch an incredible fly-past to commemorate 100 years of the RAF, the Duke of Sussex was more focused on ‘impressing his wife with his status in the Firm’ than focusing on the task at hand, Ms James told the Daily Mail. In a particularly bold effort to ‘impress’ Meghan, Harry first ‘leapfrogs royal protocol by leaning forward and calling to his Grandma as she looks out onto her subjects’. The prince’s comment then prompts Her Majesty, aged 92, to turn back to look at her grandson – issuing a response before she turns back with a gleeful smile.
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While Meghan is said to have ‘dipped her head and tempered her smile,’ Harry, in contrast, ‘adopts a closed-lip, asymmetric smile after the exchanged words with “the Boss” that looks almost smug,’ Ms James explains. At this stage, a proud Harry then adopts a ‘royal-splaining’ stance to his new wife. In a bid to continue her so-called ‘royal induction’, the prince gestures with his hands at the planes flying overhead while Meghan appears to be both ‘listening and learning’. But the prince’s attempts at enthusing his wife did not stop there – with Harry then engaging in jovial conversation with his brother and sister-in-law while Meghan watches on and smiles.
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‘This action should have given Meghan permission to assume she is part of that conversational group and this is where we see Kate laughing with William while Meghan watches,’ said Ms James. However, while Meghan dons a smile and waits patiently ‘for her cue to join in’, this sadly does not come – indicating that the new princess may well have been struggling to find her place at such a high-profile event. Meanwhile, Harry’s tendency to ‘royal-splain is not a unique phenomenon. But, rather, was also noted during the couple’s first Trooping the Colour in June of that year.
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The Sussexes had returned from their romantic honeymoon in the Mediterranean just in time to attend and Meghan was anxious to impress at what would be one of their first public appearances as newlyweds. In Channel 5 programme Lip-Reading The Royals, lip reader Nicola Hickling claimed that Harry was ‘explaining to her what is going to happen and that Paras will be flying overhead’ as he used ‘hand motions’ to demonstrate before Meghan responded: ‘OK.’ ‘The lip readers have exposed him mansplaining to her what a fly-past is,’ royal analyst Cristo Foufas claimed. While on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for the Trooping the Colour celebrations in 2019, Meghan was stood in front of her husband.
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Such positioning would, Ms James claims, had made her feel ‘nervous’, ‘isolated’ and as though ‘she’d lost her wing man’. ‘It placed him out of sight from her when it came to taking non-verbal cues to help her “get it right”,’ she said. Harry was also said to have snapped at the Duchess and told her off as though she were a ‘naughty kid’, according to Ms James. At the time, the Daily Mail’s lip reader claimed that Harry had said: ‘Yes, that’s right,’ as if answering her question. Then, after half-turning to face the front, Meghan swings around once more, at which point Harry allegedly snaps: ‘Turn around.’
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When she continued to look at him, Harry was said to have instructed: ‘Look,’ while nodding pointedly towards the front of the balcony. ‘Harry’s body language seems to do little to support or protect her,’ claimed Ms James. ‘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.’
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Fresh off her stint as an actress on popular television show Suits, one may have expected Meghan to be brimming with confidence, having sufficiently mastered the ability to hold her own while under the world’s microscope. But the protocol required of a new princess was an entirely different world to the glitz and glamour Meghan had grown accustomed to – with Harry required to help show his new wife the royal ropes. After analysing the awkward footage, the body language expert said: ‘It’s hard to not feel some sympathy for Meghan here. ‘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.
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‘Standing high on a balcony while the public watch and cheer 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.”‘ Yet while Meghan may well have been striving to master the appearance, Trooping the Colour 2019 would mark her final appearance on the Buckingham Palace balcony. The Sussexes officially stepped down as working royals in early 2020 and relocated to California, a controversial decision later dubbed ‘Megxit’. While the couple returned to the UK for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2022, they were nowhere to be seen as the Royal Family gathered on the balcony to the sound of elated crowds.
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Her Majesty had made the unprecedented decision that future balcony appearances would be strictly limited to working royals. Not only did such decision indicate a gradual shift towards a so-called ‘slimmed down Monarchy’, but it was also a form of damage control in the hopes of evading any public controversy. Reflecting on the late Monarch’s decision to exclude the Sussexes from the balcony line-up, royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told the Daily Mail that while ‘much loved members’ of the Firm, the Queen was ‘fully aware of how unpredictable and whimsical’ the pair could be. ‘Their future status is as royal outsiders and today’s balcony line up made this clear.’
