TL;DR:
- Meghan Markle held an umbrella over herself and the man who offered it to her during a 2018 royal tour.
- The “instinctive” gesture kept Meghan Markle from looking “unbelievably arrogant” in a possible “dilemma,” according to a body language expert.
- “Natural empathy and sense” led Meghan Markle to make the “ideal call,” the expert said.
A body language expert says Meghan Markle expertly navigated what could’ve been a “dilemma” during a 2018 royal tour. The Duchess of Sussex shared an umbrella and side-stepped looking “unbelievably arrogant.”
Meghan Markle shared an umbrella in a ‘sweet gesture’ during her and Prince Harry’s 2018 royal tour
During Meghan and Prince Harry’s first big royal tour as newlyweds in the fall of 2018, there were many moments caught on camera. Among them, Meghan’s interaction with a guest during a land dedication ceremony in Auckland, New Zealand. The engagement marked one of 76 the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would embark on over 16 days.
As it started to rain a guest offered Meghan an umbrella. She, in turn, shielded both of them from the rain in a move body language expert Judi James described as potentially “instinctive.”
“When Meghan is handed an umbrella here she offers to hold it herself and shares it with the guest that offered it,” James said (via Express).
“Did holding this umbrella that a man offered look like a sweet gesture?” she asked. “Of course, her smile of gratitude alone made that a cert.”
Although, as the expert noted, Meghan didn’t grow up in the British royal family. “Meghan had spent most of her life as a non-royal so the gesture would also have been instinctive.”
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Meghan avoided the ‘dilemma’ of looking ‘unbelievably arrogant’ with the umbrella
The Duchess of Sussex expertly avoided what would’ve otherwise been bad looks for her and the royal family. “It would have created a dilemma for any other royal tool,” James said, before explaining how the umbrella moment could’ve gone from bad to “worse.”
“Sitting while the man next to her held it over her head would have looked unbelievably arrogant,” she explained.
The other possibility, “holding it over her own head alone,” wouldn’t have been good either. It “would have led to the same man getting a drenching as the water off her umbrella and onto his head, which would have looked worse,” James said.
Meghan Markle made the ‘ideal call’ in the umbrella ‘scenario’
James continued, saying holding the umbrella demonstrated Meghan’s “natural empathy” in what can be a common scene stateside.
“Umbrellas are a great social leveller [sic],” the expert said. “In the US it is quite common to see Presidents and their partners accompanied by an umbrella-holder at formal events. But Meghan obviously had the natural empathy and sense to create the ideal call in this scenario.”
This is the same royal tour on which Harry cautioned Meghan about “doing too well” and the one he later revealed changed their relationship with the rest of the royal family.
Showbiz Cheat Sheet acknowledges conditions and cultures can impact body language and is sensitive to all backgrounds.
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