This Is What Woman in the Crowd Said to Meghan Markle Before Their Hug Went Viral
Two days after Queen Elizabeth II’s death in 2022, crowds gathered outside Windsor Castle were stunned when Prince William, the Princess of Wales (formerly known as Kate Middleton), Prince Harry, and Meghan Markle arrived together to view floral tributes left for the late royal family matriarch.
The foursome also did a walkabout to greet the well-wishers. Kate and the princes fell right into the mode of shaking hands and speaking with as many people as possible, but Meghan looked a bit lost and uncomfortable.
Some theorized that the Duchess of Sussex wasn’t sure how the crowd would react to seeing after she and her husband were booed when they were in town a few months earlier for the queen’s platinum jubilee.
After Meghan began interacting with the crowds, there were a couple of awkward moments including her ignoring protocol when she was approached by a royal aide and one person refusing to speak to her. But there was a woman who chatted with the duchess and then asked if she could give her a hug.
Here’s what that lady said to Meghan before the two embraced.
Meghan snubbed as woman refuses to look at her during walkabout
Meghan’s appearance at Windsor Castle that day was after she and Harry gave that bombshell interview to Oprah Winfrey, and some people held a grudge against her for that.
This was evident when she was walking down the line greeting everyone and one person outright ignored her.
In the video, Meghan is seen moving along and shaking hands when 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 in 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 and another royal fan shared an embrace during the walkabout
However, Meghan was warmly welcomed by some in the crowd including one woman who hugged her. Video of that moment has been shared on YouTube and TikTok. The latter has more than 15,800 views with hundreds of likes and dozens of comments.
The conversation between the two women can be heard with Meghan saying, “Thank you so much for being here. It means so much to the family. We appreciate it.”
The duchess then asks, “How long have you been waiting?” to which the other woman replies, “Like two hours.”
“Oh goodness. OK. Well, hopefully you’ll be able to get back home soon. We appeciate you being here,” Meghan tells her as she puts a hand on her. At that point the woman asks: “Can I hug you?”
“Of course,” Meghan says as they embrace.
This video was shot three months before the Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan aired. During that show, Meghan talked about Kate not wanting to hug her and opined that hugging is “really jarring to a lot of Brits.”
