By Jack RoystonShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberMeghan Markle's body language during an early public engagement alongside Princess Kate went viral in a resurfaced clip on social media.
The Duchess of Sussex and the Princess of Wales both attended the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey in London in March 2018. At the time, Meghan was just two months out from her royal wedding to Prince Harry, and Kate was one month away from giving birth to Prince Louis, her third child.
Why It Matters
A clip of the moment went viral on X after it was liked 3,600 times and viewed almost 200,000 times, having been posted with the message: "All the PR rebranding in the world won't change what people see about Meghan Markle. If envy and jealousy had a face."
Meghan and Kate are frequently compared online, with their respective fans taking sides in a royal rift that grew predominantly in the months after the 2018 Commonwealth Day Service. They no longer see each other following Meghan and Prince Harry's exit from the monarchy in 2020.
Meghan has long spoken about how hard she finds negative social media commentary about her life, saying during a 2020 appearance on the Teenager Therapy podcast that it was "almost unsurvivable."
...What To Know
The clip appears to show Meghan and Kate working their way down a line of people gathered outside the abbey, with Kate a little further ahead than Meghan.
A dignitary then seems to gesture toward Kate. The U.S.-based account on X that posted the clip is a regular Meghan critic and appeared to infer that Meghan's facial expression was a reaction to Kate herself, which indicated Meghan's jealousy.
It is not possible to tell from the video what the dignitary said to Meghan, nor whether Meghan was reacting to Kate at all. She appears to look in Kate's general direction for a moment, though she is also looking toward the camera, which is behind Kate. There is nothing in the video to explain why the dignitary would be directing Meghan's attention to Kate.
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What People Are Saying
Christopher Bouzy, a tech entrepreneur who previously investigated trolls targeting Meghan, wrote an article for Newsweek in June arguing the duchess has been subjected to a "vicious" campaign on social media: "This nightmare is what Meghan's life has become. Every joyful moment gets twisted into ammunition by people who've made destroying her their full-time job.
"And we need to talk about what this sustained cruelty has done to a woman whose only crime was falling in love with a prince."
During the engagement, Meghan Markle said the Commonwealth Day Service at the abbey had been "beautiful, especially the choir and the music."
Religious education teacher David Swindells, from St Cuthbert's Catholic High School, in Newcastle, who met Meghan, told the Daily Mail at the time: "She was very personable. I think she'll be a great addition."
One reply to the post on X read: "The world sees what she is. A jealous nobody."
What Happens Next
Meghan is preparing for the release of her new Netflix series, With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration, on December 3.
Do you have a question about King Charles III and Queen Camilla, Prince William and Princess Kate, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email [email protected]. We'd love to hear from you.
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