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A video is making the rounds again that shows how the crowd reacted when the Duchess of Sussex did her first royal walkabout after her bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview.
As millions of people around the world mourned, thousands in the U.K. gathered at several royal residences following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Sept. 8, 2022. Two days after she died, her grandsons, Prince William and Prince Harry, along with their spouses, the Princess of Wales (formerly known as Kate Middleton) and Meghan Markle, surprised fans when they showed up at Windsor Castle to view tributes to the late monarch.
The foursome then did a walkabout to greet some of those gathered. Things seemed a bit awkward for the Duchess of Sussex because this was her first time engaging with the public in England since her and Harry’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, and not everyone was pleased to see her there.
In fact, a video has resurfaced showing one woman who refused to shake hands with Harry’s wife after Meghan’s claims of racism and painting the royals in a bad light. Here’s that clip and what commenters are saying about it.
Clip of woman ignoring Meghan during walkabout
Meghan went from having a tense exchange with a royal aide over flowers during the walkabout to having an awkward moment when she was completely ignored by one woman in the crowd.
In the video, Meghan is seen moving down the line to shake hands with everyone until she gets to one woman with blonde hair and a dark-colored shirt who wouldn’t even look at the duchess. The unidentified lady then smirked at the person with her, shook her head, and laughed as Meghan passed her.
Body language expert Judi James weighed on how the former Suits star handled that situation, telling Express: “It’s a tough call to be ignored close-up in public like this, and having the offer of a handshake refused will add to the sense of rejection. But Meghan seems to draw on her experience as an actress to minimize the impact as elegantly and calmly as possible.
“Meghan touches the arm of another woman, shakes with the one next to her, but then manages to avoid turning a snub into a drama by picking that rhythm up again with people who are extending a hand and barely missing a beat as she does. There’s no sign of a negative response from Meghan, and this would be important as it could go either way.”
The clip has over 580,000 views and garnered more than 600 comments, with most agreeing with the woman’s decision not to shake the Duchess of Sussex’s hand.
“I wouldn’t have shaken it, either. Very well done, one is allowed to show a reaction to someone who behaves disgustingly,” one person said.
“Well well doesn’t the Duchess of Netflix deserve everything she gets … respect is earned,” another added.
“I wouldn’t shake her hand either. Titles should be stripped and banned from the U.K.,” a third opined.
And a fourth wrote: “Honestly I don’t know why she was even there. Did she think people were supposed to forget how she tried to pulverize the queen’s name in that lousy interview with Oprah Winfrey? If you dog me out like that while I’m alive, don’t even bother making plans to come see me in death. I don’t want you at my funeral. That goes to Harry too. The way they handled everything was disgraceful.”
Showbiz Cheat Sheet acknowledges conditions and cultures can impact body language and is sensitive to all backgrounds.
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