Royal family
After much debate, a lip-reading expert has decoded what the Duchess of Sussex really said during a walkabout following the queen’s death when she was approached by aides.
Millions of people around the world remember where they were when they heard that Queen Elizabeth II had died on Sept. 8, 2022. And some even remember where they were when two days later Prince William, the Princess of Wales (formerly known as Kate Middleton), Prince Harry, and Meghan Markle showed up together to greet the crowds gathered outside Windsor Castle.
The foursome’s appearance was such a big deal because it was the first time they had been photographed together in years, and it was amid their family rift. Reuniting on the royal grounds that day left fans hopeful that the death of the beloved monarch was going to help heal the wounds between the princes and their spouses.
But that wasn’t the case. It was actually a staged walkabout ordered by King Charles to get the attention off the Sussexes and Waleses’ ongoing feud and on remembering the queen instead. Looking back, there were a few awkward and tense moments between the four royals and some of the aides who offered help to Meghan when she went against protocol.
Here’s what a professional lip reader observed the former Suits star say to one staffer when they approached her about standard protocol, plus which royal called doing that walkabout the “hardest thing they ever had to do.”
Lip reader decodes what Meghan said to aide during tense exchange at Windsor
Video taken that day shows an aide walking up to Meghan and asking if she wanted him to take a bouquet of flowers off her hands, however, she declines and moves along still clutching the bouquet.
When the staffer was asking to take the flowers off Meghan he was following a standard procedure seen done countless times during walkabouts. The aides will take cards, flowers, and other gifts from the royals after they receive something and that way they have their arms free again to continue shaking hands. But Meghan decided not to follow that protocol.
According to a lip reader for the Daily Mail, the aide asked the duchess: “Would you like any help with those at all?” To which Meghan replied, “Oh thanks I’ll put them over there” as she pointed ahead adding, “I’ll take these, thanks appreciate it.”
But despite the polite choice of words by Harry’s wife, many social media users have suggested that her body language on the other hand was abrupt and rude, concluding that she was being condescending and figured she could do what she wanted. Many commenters noted that the video cuts off before showing other staffers alert Prince Harry about what was going on and he eventually coaxed Meghan to hand over the flowers for the aides to take away.
Kate called that walkabout with Meghan one of the ‘hardest things’ she’s ever had to do
While the Sussexes and Waleses forced smiles that day as they tried to show a united front in public, Kate reportedly called doing so one of the “hardest things.”
The claim about how “hard” it was for the princess to do the walkabout with her estranged in-laws is mentioned in a book by royal commentator and historian Robert Jobson.
In an extract from Our King: Charles III: The Man and the Monarch Revealed published by the Daily Mail, Jobson wrote: “It looked as though the warring couples had slipped back in time before bitterness and harsh words had destroyed their relationship.”
However, Palace sources told the author that was “all an illusion” and that behind the scenes there was an “ill feeling between the two couples” with the Princess of Wales later admitting that the joint walkabout was “one of the hardest things she’s ever had to do.”
