It’s no secret that Meghan Markle had a hard time adjusting to palace life.
She had a series of well-publicised royal blunders, among which was her first Trooping the Colour appearance in June 2018.
The Sussexes had returned from their honeymoon in the Mediterranean just in time to attend and Meghan was anxious to impress as it would one of the their first appearances as newlyweds.
A lipreader said that despite seeming composed, Meghan was nervous during the event and she let her husband know.
At one point, when Meghan was standing on the balcony, Harry asked Meghan if she was doing OK, to which she replied, ‘Yeah’.
In a second exchange, Meghan admitted to her husband that she was nervous. The pair looked at each other and the new royal blurted out ‘nervous,’ with a smile.
Harry is said to have responded, ‘Yes,’ before smiling.
He added: ‘When you get into it, I’ll tell you more later. Then there’s the flypast and then we all look up to the sky.’
Meghan Markle’s first Trooping the Colour in 2018. A lipreader said that despite seeming composed, Meghan was nervous
At one point, when Meghan was standing on the balcony, Prince Harry asked if she was doing OK
In a second exchange, Meghan admitted to her husband that she was nervous. The pair looked at each other and the new royal blurted out ‘nervous,’ with a smile
Kate, who unlike Meghan has attended Trooping the Colour ever since her first appearance in 2011, stood in front of the new Duchess.
In his tell-all memoir Spare Harry wrote that everyone was ‘in a good mood, upbeat’ until Kate asked Meghan what she thought of her first Trooping the Colour.
‘And Meg joked: Colourful. And a yawning silence threatened to swallow us all whole,’ Harry wrote.
But perhaps this tonal misunderstanding goes deeper than an ill-timed joke on the balcony.
This year’s Trooping the Colour is an extra special occasion as it marks King Charles’s 75th birthday.
As members of the Royal Family gather on on Horse Guards Parade in London, one of the King’s children and his family won’t be in attendance.
Prince Harry said in his recent BBC interview that his father was not speaking to him amid the Sussexes’ high profile security appeal.
He went on to say he did not know how much longer his father had left to live – sparking speculation about the monarch’s health – and said he would not be bringing his wife Meghan or his children back to the UK.
Camilla, Kate, Meghan, Harry and Isla Phillips on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during Trooping the Colour 2018
In his tell-all memoir Spare Harry wrote that everyone was ‘in a good mood, upbeat’ until Kate asked Meghan what she thought of her first Trooping the Colour
The main criticism Meghan attracted for her first balcony appearance was her outfit: An off-the-shoulder Carolina Herrera dress in a soft blush pink shade with a matching Philip Treacy hat
Last year Charles, who was undergoing treatment for cancer, did not ride a horse at his official birthday parade, instead conducting the review of troops taking part while seated in an Ascot Landau carriage.
Trooping the Colour is held every year as an official birthday event for the monarch, even though Charles’s actual birthday is on November 14.
The ceremony dates back to 1760 as an annual event and is one of the biggest military ceremonies of the year, featuring around 1,600 parading soldiers, 400 musicians and more than 200 horses.
It usually wrapped up with a RAF flypast over Buckingham Palace, watched by the Royal Family from the Palace balcony.
But it is unlikely the Sussexes, who live in California, will have been invited to the ceremony as only senior royals who are currently undertaking official public duties get a place at the event.
While Trooping the Colour was an annual event for Harry until recently, his wife Meghan has only been to two of the parades, in 2018 and 2019.
The main criticism Meghan attracted for her first balcony appearance was her outfit of choice: An off-the-shoulder Carolina Herrera dress in a soft blush pink shade with a matching Philip Treacy hat.
Her shoulder-baring frock broke royal tradition and was a striking departure from the typical demure looks normally favoured at such occasions events.
Kate, who unlike Meghan has attended Trooping the Colour ever since her first appearance in 2011, stood in front of the new Duchess
Meghan is pictured with Harry during Trooping The Colour 2018
The late Queen, Camilla and Kate were all dressed in co-ordinated powder blue ensembles, a striking show of unity.
Meghan, however, stood out in her soft pink dress, further solidifying her status as an outsider to royal tradition.
When Meghan stepped out onto the balcony for her second Trooping the Colour appearance, she looked far less confident as she stood on the same spot for the final time a year later.
She had given birth to her first son Prince Archie less than a month prior to Trooping the Colour on June 8, 2019, which marked the late Queen’s 93rd birthday.
The Duchess wore a navy short-sleeved dress by Givenchy and a matching hat by Noel Stewart as she stood in front of her husband.
Speaking exclusively to , body language expert Judi James said this positioning would have made her feel ‘nervous’, ‘isolated’ and as though ‘she’d lost her wing man’.
‘It placed him out of sight from her when it came to taking non-verbal cues to help her “get it right”,’ she said.
Coverage of the event shows the royals chatting amongst themselves, with Harry turning away from Meghan to speak to someone on his left.
Meghan had given birth to her first son Prince Archie less than a month before Trooping the Colour on June 8, 2019, which marked the late Queen’s 93rd birthday
The Duchess wore a navy short-sleeved dress by Givenchy and a matching hat by Noel Stewart as she stood in front of her husband
Meghan then turns to speak to her husband, with Judi explaining that she may have been ‘looking for a friendly face’ during the high-profile appearance and seeking to join in on ‘some of the small talk the others, including Harry, were engaging in’.
But instead of comforting his wife with ‘a loving smile’ and explaining that she should not turn her back on the thousands of well-wishers gathered at Buckingham Palace, Harry appears to snap at Meghan and tell her off as though she were a ‘naughty kid’.
In the clip, the Duchess appears to say something to her husband, prompting a brief reply from Harry.
At the time, ‘s lip reader confirmed he said: ‘Yes, that’s right,’ as if answering her question.
After half-turning to face the front, Meghan swings around once more, at which point Harry seemingly snaps: ‘Turn around.’
When she continued to look at him, Harry added: ‘Look,’ while nodding pointedly towards the front of the balcony.
‘Harry’s body language seems to do little to support or protect her,’ Judi said.
‘He should have been the one royal responsible for hosting his wife in the UK and helping her navigate her way through the royal protocol rules.
The Royal Family on the balcony at Trooping the Colour in 2019
According to a body language expert, Meghan was uncomfortable at her second Trooping the Colour
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‘Instead, when she turns, his expression seems to remain impassive and at the second turn he appears to enforce royal protocol with a meaningful and rather authoritative eyebrow flash.’
As the Duchess turns away from her husband, she appears visibly unhappy.
‘Meghan was a successful, confident woman,’ Judi said.
As the Duchess turns away from her husband, she appears visibly unhappy.
‘The gesture from Harry seems to look more like the way you might urge a naughty kid.
‘Her facial expression looks unhappy as she turns. Her checking rituals suggest she is clearly trying to get it right but might prefer a kindly loving smile rather than the warning raise of the eyebrows here.’
After analysing the awkward footage, the body language expert said: ‘It’s hard to not feel some sympathy for Meghan here.
‘She is still new to The Firm and the balcony moments are the most formal and globally visible appearances of the Royal Family en masse.
‘Standing high on a balcony while the public watch and cheer from below traditionally emphasises the superiority and higher-class status of the royals, which is why they often go to great lengths to ensure they “get it right.”‘
Judi added: ‘Even William has famously been told off by the [late] Queen for bending while on the balcony to talk to his small son, so the pressure on Meghan, who was the one sparking everyone’s interest and fascination at this stage, was intense.’
But Meghan’s notorious first balcony appearance isn’t the first thing to go wrong at the annual parade.
For royal children, watching the flyover quietly from the balcony can be a big ask.
For royal children, watching the flyover quietly from the balcony can be a big ask
Prince Louis has been regularly caught pulling faces on camera, such as in 2022 when he held his hands over his ears in front of the late Queen.
Last year he was seen on camera scrunching up his face, while Kate appeared to crouch down to talk with her son.
Seemingly not occupied enough by the parade, at one point, the cheeky six-year-old was even caught tugging on the cord for the blinds as he chatted to his mother.
He even attempted to try and open the window on the balcony next to the Duchess of Edinburgh, gripping the frame as he tried to pull it up.
Even Harry was known to play up at such royal occasions as a young boy, once sticking his tongue out at cameras in 1988 while being held by his mother Princess Diana.
But many argue that Meghan, a grown woman, should have known better than to flaunt royal protocol at her first Trooping the Colour.
Royals have long adhered to an unwritten but closely followed set of style rules, which dictate appropriate hemlines, sleeve lengths, and colour palettes.
The decision to wear such a contemporary silhouette was the first in a series of fashion choices that would come to define Meghan’s time as a working royal.
Even before her engagement to Harry, she had made clear her preference for modern, structured designs that in contrast with the more traditional royal look.
Even Harry was known to play up at such royal occasions as a young boy, once sticking his tongue out at cameras in 1988 while being held by his mother Princess Diana
Etiquette expert Laura Windsor said that Meghan frequently bent or even ignored dress codes and opened herself to scrutiny to get attention and display her independence.
‘A confident and happy person doesn’t adopt disruptive behaviour but shows respect and decorum,’ she said.
Meghan’s outfit choice was seen by many as unapologetically defiant and a declaration of independence.
Fashion has always been a powerful form of expression, and in Meghan’s case, it spoke volumes.
Her body language at her second appearance showed that she was not comfortable at the event.
Etiquette expert Laura Windsor said that Meghan frequently bent or even ignored dress codes and opened herself to scrutiny to get attention and display her independence
Whether intentional or not, her style choices often sent a clear message that she was there to do things her way, even if that meant shaking things up.
Perhaps this was subtle foreshadowing of the Sussexes’ actions over the years that followed.
Trooping the Colour in 2019 would mark Meghan’s final appearance on the Buckingham Palace balcony.
The Sussexes officially stepped down as working royals in 2020, only returning to the UK in 2022 to introduce their children Archie and Lilibet to the late Queen.
Their recent BBC interview and high-profile security appeal means it is unlikely we will see the couple at the event anytime soon.