When Meghan Markle married into the Royal Family in May 2018, she quickly had to familiarise herself with the extensive royal protocol a new princess is required to follow.
However, just one month after her fairytale wedding to Prince Harry, the new Duchess of Sussex was given a task even a seasoned royal might find intimidating: a joint engagement with the late Queen herself.
In June 2018, the pair opened Cheshire’s Mersey Gateway Bridge and Chester’s Storyhouse Theatre before attending a lunch together at the Town Hall.
Royal watchers had hoped Meghan would learn by watching Her Majesty in action but, according to body language expert Judi James, the engagement might have been a tad premature.
She highlighted an interaction between the pair that was captured at the Gateway Bridge opening ceremony, when Meghan was seen talking to the late Queen, who looked away and rubbed her eye.
According to Ms James, Meghan may have ‘breached’ protocol that mandates royals must ‘avoid any personal-looking communication’ during public events.
Ms James said the Queen might have made a subtle attempt at ‘shutting down’ the former Suits actress’s ‘intimate display of fondness’ during a public appearance.
During a separate interaction, the Duchess ‘lifted her hand to her mouth as though performing an act of whispering to the Queen’ – but Ms James felt that, while this may have been a natural gesture’, it could send the wrong message.
Just one month after her fairytale wedding to Prince Harry, the new Duchess of Sussex was given a task even a seasoned royal might find intimidating: a joint engagement with the late Queen herself
Explaining how this could be misconstrued, Ms James said: ‘Talking or laughing behind your hand can suggest you’re laughing at the people you are watching.’
The Queen exchanged a ‘brief’ smile with Meghan, but refused to ‘really engage in a proper conversation’, the expert added.
According to Ms James, the Queen was trying to make sure they did not exclude any members of the public or ‘make it look like they are distracted from or laughing at the children who are dancing’.
While Her Majesty is playing by the centuries-old royal rulebook, Meghan is ‘just trying too hard’ in the hope of ‘forging a relationship of closeness, fondness and friendship’ with the Queen in public, she told the Daily Mail.
It was the first and only time Queen Elizabeth, then 92, and Meghan, then 36, would carry out an engagement together.
Ms James noted that Meghan attended her first joint outing with the Queen ‘much earlier’ than Princess Catherine did. While Kate and William wed at Westminster Abbey in April 2011, her first engagement with the late monarch was not until March 2012.
Kate appeared to be much more at ease with the ‘very formal but attentive signals’ typical for a Lady in Waiting during her first joint engagement with Her Majesty.
Meghan also seemingly broke two rules of royal etiquette during their outing in June 2018.
Royal watchers had hoped Meghan would learn by watching Her Majesty in action but, according to body language expert Judi James, the engagement might have been a tad premature
According to Ms James, Meghan may have ‘breached’ protocol that mandates royals must ‘avoid any personal-looking communication’ during public events
According to the royal order of precedence, individuals are not permitted to walk ahead of the Monarch at any point.
However, when Meghan greeted crowds on the streets of Chester, footage captured her striding in front of the Queen and grabbing a bouquet.
Royal protocol also dictates that when a member of The Firm is handed flowers, they should pass them back to their private secretaries and personal assistants.
The aides will then display the flowers properly, allowing the royals to keep their hands and properly greet members of the public. There is also a more serious reason: the bouquets could contain dangerous substances or explosives.
It has since been claimed that the Duchess was, sometimes, overwhelmed by royal protocol as she struggled to understand she ‘was not and never could be first in the pecking order.
In his book Gilded Youth, royal biographer Tom Quinn claimed: ‘[Meghan] hated the fact that she had to do what she was told and go where she was told in the endless and to a large extent pointless royal round.’
According to the royal author, Meghan allegedly tried not only to carve out her own independent career as a working royal but also tried to ‘outshine’ every other member of the family – including Her Majesty.
‘She was a global superstar but was being told what she could and could not do, what she could and could not say. She hated it.’
Ms James notes that Meghan attended her first joint outing with the Queen ‘much earlier’ than Princess Catherine did. While Kate and William wed at Westminster Abbey in April 2011, her first engagement with the Monarch was not until March 2012 (pictured)
According to royal biographer Tom Quinn, the Duchess was ‘shocked’ by the extent of palace protocol required once she married into the Firm and, in particular, ‘that she was not and never could be first in the pecking order’
When Meghan first joined the Royal Family, the Queen was said to have suggested that her close friend Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, show the American newbie the ropes.
However, Meghan turned down the offer as the Queen’s friend Gyles Brandreth recalled her saying: ‘I’ve got Harry.’
Since the Sussexes quit the Royal Family in 2020, Meghan has spoken openly about her adverse feelings towards The Firm’s extensive rules.
In what appeared to be a thinly veiled swipe at the Royal Family, Meghan said she ‘couldn’t be as vocal’ while a working royal and wore clothes that were ‘not very myself’ while promoting the second series of her Netflix show, With Love, Meghan.
While speaking to Bloomberg’s Emily Chang in August, Meghan was asked if there is an ‘inherent tension’ between ‘trying to be relatable’ while also being a Duchess.
Appearing to take a dig at her former life as a working royal, she responded: ‘It was different several years ago when I couldn’t be as vocal, and I had to wear nude pantyhose all the time!’
Adding that it ‘felt a little bit inauthentic’, she continued: ‘It is an example of when you want to dress the way you want to dress and say the things that are true, and you’re able to show up in that space really organically and authentically – that’s being comfortable in your own skin.’
