It’s always very difficult to tell how members of the Royal Family really feel about something. For one thing, they are trained to maintain the stereotypical British “stiff upper lip,” especially when it comes to anything that might spell scandal for their famous family. And for another thing, we mostly see the royals at events where they know cameras will be rolling.
In short, this gives them time to prepare a practiced performance. Perhaps none are better at this than the controversial royal Meghan Markle. Given that, it’s only fitting that she’s the star of the equally controversial Netflix docudrama Harry & Meghan.
This was on full display at the Queen’s funeral, with Meghan expertly keeping calm and collected towards her family, presenting herself to the cameras as the perfect grieving woman. But what was Meghan like around them when the cameras weren’t rolling, and how does she really feel? Keep reading to find out!
Keeping cool for the cameras
It was obviously a very big deal when Queen Elizabeth died. And her funeral became one of the biggest events of the past century. Of course, those well aware of the tension between Meghan Markle and the rest of the royals were morbidly curious if the younger royal rebel would end up making some kind of a scene.
However, those holding out for some kind of royal rumble were sorely disappointed. Meghan appeared to be quiet and devastated in her grief, just as her husband, Prince Harry, appeared able to temporarily bury the hatchet between himself and Prince William long enough for them to finish burying the Queen.
However, the Royal Family prevented journalists from rolling cameras until the royals saw the Queen’s coffin. This left a few precious minutes where journalist Rebecca English could observe the royals when the cameras weren’t on, and she had some shocking things to say, especially regarding Meghan Markle.
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A palpable tension in the air
Rebecca English dished about what she saw on the podcast Palace Confidential. According to Express, she immediately noticed a contrast in the body language between Meghan Markle and the other royals.
“You couldn’t help but notice the body language between the senior royals and Meghan from where we were standing,” English said. “You could see that Camilla, Kate, and Sophie were together, and the body language was very comfortable between them.”
And “then there was Meghan,” she said. According to English, “you could have almost fitted somebody else in that space. It spoke volumes.” In fact, she went as far as to claim that “Even if you didn’t know what we all know that has happened over the past few years, you’d have turned up and thought, ‘that looks a bit odd; there’s something slightly wrong here.’”
And this was more than just initial confusion or distress. Her body language continued to tell everyone present how she really felt about…well…everyone present.
Meghan’s body language was practically screaming
As reported by Express, Rebecca English continued to discuss Meghan’s awkward body language at the Queen’s funeral. “There was something self-consciously awkward about her posture, demonstrating the depth of the rift between herself and the rest of the royal family even if you happened upon them without any prior knowledge of the acrimony of the past four years,” she said.
In fact, English went so far as to say that even a random observer could have noticed how confused and distant Meghan looked the entire time. “Meghan, who was holding black leather gloves, seemed so lost for something to do that at one point she rested her left hand in her pocket.”
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Surprise riding arrangements
Depending on who you talk to, the weirdness with Meghan lasted longer than you might expect. For example, Meghan had to ride for the Queen’s lying-in-state procession. And royal guru and Royally Obsessed podcast host Rachel Bowie believes this further revealed Meghan’s tension towards the rest of the royals.
“To see Sophie riding in the car with Meghan — I think a lot of people were confused as to why wouldn’t Kate and Meghan ride in the car together,” she said. “But I think that obviously made sense as Kate’s next in line to the throne so she’d obviously ride with the Queen Consort, Camilla.”
Of course, this does make sense as a part of standard royal protocol. But it put even more distance between Meghan and the family members that she should be closer to. Most interestingly, though, Bowie seemed to imply that the funeral might have really gone sideways if not for Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh that might have just saved the family from a major drama bomb that day.
Sophie: the glue that holds the family together?
Compared to many of the other royals, Sophie keeps a relatively low profile. She’s not constantly in the headlines like Meghan Markle is. But on Royally Obsessed, host Rachel Bowie implied that Sophie has secret reserves of inner strength that really came out on this dark day, and in retrospect, she might have been the perfect riding partner for Meghan.
“From where I was I got the sense that … sometimes you have that one strong person in a family who’s kind of keeping everyone together,” she said. “To me, it seemed like Sophie was that person. It was something that really stood out because it seemed that she really was very strong.”
That was seemingly good news for Meghan Markle, who made it through the entirety of the event without causing drama or making everything about herself (something she is quite good at). However, now that King Charles’ coronation is scheduled for May 6, 2023, we can’t help but wonder if Meghan will end up going nuclear on her family that day if she doesn’t have Sophie nearby to help project calm and keep the peace.
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