Prince Harry’s wife Meghan Markle has faced media scrutiny since the day she married into the royal family in 2018.
Just weeks after receiving the Duchess of Sussex title, the former American actress joined the royal family for her balcony debut to celebrate Trooping the Colour.
Prince Andrew and Peter Phillips were also in attendance to mark an iconic moment in new bride’s integration into the Firm. However, cameras were on Meghan to observe her actions whether she was going to be a fit for the British royal family.
The Duchess’ one gesture, seemingly to a sweet royal, caught on camera. A clip of the event shows three-year-old Princess Charlotte take a tumble before her mother Kate Middleton swoops in to pick her up. In the background, Meghan appears to laugh.
Reacting to the moment, body language expert Judi James claimed there is more to the moment than it first appears.
She told the Daily Mail: “This clip has seen Meghan accused on social media of a ‘mean girl’ level of enjoying another’s misfortune.”
The rumours around the bridesmaid-based wedding spat with Kate might have fueled these claims.
However, a closer analysis of the body language suggests the moment might not be quite what it seems.
Jodi appears revealing the truth behind Meghan’s gesture, saying: ‘Firstly, there is the perspective to take into consideration. Meghan is busy chatting to Camilla, meaning she might not even have had a clear view of what happened.
“Camilla, Meghan and Harry had been laughing and chatting prior to the fall so in many ways, Meghan is just politely carrying on with the mood of the conversation here,” claimed Jodi.
The expert went on to explain, “She seems to be taking her conversational leads from Camilla and Harry and, if anything, it’s Harry putting his hand to his face as though masking a laugh or making an aside-style comment here.”
She continued: “And then there is a fair point to be made about anyone in the proximity when a child cries.”
Jodi also revealed the universal truth about the situation, saying: “Smiling is usually a common and thoughtful reaction that can be used to show empathy and care rather than irritation at the noise. An expression of concern can often be seen wrongly as a scowl of intolerance and women in particular will often smile to show empathy for the mother.”
In his tell-all memoir Spare, Harry wrote that everyone was ‘in a good mood, upbeat’ until Kate asked Meghan what she thought of her first Trooping the Colour.
‘And Meg joked: “Colourful.” And a yawning silence threatened to swallow us all whole,’ the Duke revealed.
It is worth noting that Trooping the Colour is an annual royal event. However Meghan has only been to two of the parades – in 2018 and 2019.