The moment Meghan Markle realised she wasn’t welcome in the UK: While on the notoriously awkward walkabout with William and Kate after the Queen’s death, one brave royal fan sent her a message by SNUBBING her offer of a handshake

Eyes fixed firmly on the floor, head lowered and a smug expression on her face – this was the moment a woman in a crowd appeared to snub Meghan.

The incident caused a media storm, with many praising the way the Duchess of Sussex handled the situation.

In September 2022 Meghan and Prince Harry, along with Prince William and Kate, greeted thousands of people paying their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth outside Windsor Castle.

The grandsons walked forward to meet the crowds as they had done a quarter of a century earlier following the tragic death of their mother Princess Diana.

It was the first time the brothers appeared together since they unveiled a statue of Diana in the summer of 2021.

Meghan received a generally warm reaction from the crowd as she made her way down the line of fans, shaking hands and chatting with the crowds of people lined up to get a glimpse of the royals.

She politely greeted a large group who clung to metal railings, hugging members of the public and crouching down to receive flowers from children.

As Meghan passed, one woman was captured lowering her head as if to ignore her and avoid her gaze.

The woman in blue – who has never been named – had her arms crossed over the railing with her body facing away from the royal, looking to the ground.

Afterwards, the woman could be seen chatting with a friend, as the two giggled over the icy moment.

Other mourners in the crowd also looked like they were ignoring Meghan, with one person withdrawing their hand and another putting on sunglasses.

But Meghan won praise for her calm reaction, moving onto the next well-wisher as if nothing had happened.

Her lack of rule-following throughout the rest of the walkabout remains a topic of debate.

The snub from the woman in the video quickly went viral on X (formerly known as Twitter) and left viewers divided.

Social media users slammed the ‘racist’ lady for her treatment towards the Duchess and others felt it was an indication of a great amount of resentment towards the couple across the UK.

However, a different user quipped, ‘Why does it always have to be construed as racism? Absolutely nothing to do with race. People just don’t like her.’

Queen Elizabeth’s death came at a troubled time for Harry and Meghan’s relationship with the royal family.

Well-placed sources told The Mail on Sunday that the stress of Harry and Meghan’s departure had a ‘detrimental effect’ on the health of the Queen in the final months of her life.

The late Queen’s death certificate said that she died of ‘old age’ on September 8, 2022, at 96 years old.

But those close to the monarch believe that her frequent mobility issues were impacted by the added stress of her grandson’s decision to break away from his family and criticise the institution to which she had dedicated her life.

After releasing a statement about their plans, the fine details of the break were to be decided during a meeting in January 2020 – breaking into the Queen’s Christmas holiday at her private estate in Sandringham, Norfolk.

Harry claimed to be ‘terrified’ when his brother ‘screamed and shouted’ at him during the meeting. He also accused his father of saying ‘things that simply weren’t true’ and revealed that his grandmother, the Queen, ‘quietly sat there’ and ‘took it all in’.

It was decided that if the Sussexes wished to be free to make their fortune abroad, then they would have to relinquish their official royal roles.

Harry and Meghan moved to California in June 2020, saying they wanted space to raise Archie and Lilibet was since born there in 2021.

Palace insiders said that it was the Queen’s decision not to see Harry and Meghan on one of their few visits back to Britain.

The monarch’s health was by then failing, with sources saying the final year of her life was particularly taxing.

In her final weeks, the late Queen missed the Commonwealth Games and the annual Braemar Games in the Highlands and died on the day after meeting the outgoing and incoming Prime Ministers, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.

Even after her death Harry did not appear to be united with the rest of his family.

He did not fly up to Scotland on the same plane as his brother and his uncles Andrew and Edward, arriving at Balmoral Castle on his own later that day. He left early the following morning before other members of the family.

In Harry’s memoir, Spare, he claims the Duchess of Sussex was banned from Balmoral on the day of the Queen’s death.

So when Meghan and Harry stepped out of the Windsor estate with Kate and William on September 10, 2022 – two days after the Queen’s death – they had thousands of people watching their every move.

But the brothers barely interacted during the sombre 40-minute walkabout and appeared to stick to their two couples.

It was later reported that their father the King had ordered his warring sons to set aside their ongoing feud ahead of the Queen’s funeral.

Royal sources said William extended an ‘olive branch’ to his younger brother Harry by asking him to join him on a walkabout after taking a phone call from Charles.

The awkwardness of the encounter was so great that Kate found it ‘one of the hardest things she’d ever had to do’, according to a book. 

The appearance was plagued with more controversy when some online users noticed an apparent disagreement between Meghan and royal aides, after she collected flowers from some onlookers and didn’t know what to do with the bouquets.

She is also seen in footage seemingly trying to walk in from of the more senior royals, in this case William and Kate.

Footage from the occasion seems to show Harry having to pull his wife back with his arm and slow down his walking pace so that she did not pull ahead of his older brother.

Throughout her time as a royal, Meghan seemed to have a hard time adjusting to royal life, first raising eyebrows when she appeared to sign an autograph during a walkabout at Cardiff Castle in January 2018.

After their marriage in May 2018 the couple worked together as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for less than two years before they dramatically stepped down as senior royals in January 2020.

Royal family members are taught etiquette and traditions by household staff from a young age but as Meghan married into The Firm at 36, she had obviously not been brought up to understand all of the rules and customs.

The American actress had to learn how to give a proper royal handshake, to stand up when the monarch does and to avoid any PDA.

Her training also included how to greet dignitaries – and expect to be greeted – as well as how to behave on royal engagements and the intricacies of palace life.

Since Harry and Meghan resigned from the royal family, the couple have spoken about how the Firm could have done more to support Meghan during her time in the UK.

In their Netflix series, Meghan detailed her first meeting with Kate and William – and how she was ‘surprised’ to learn the royal family’s formality continued behind closed doors.

In Harry’s book he claimed Kate was ‘put on edge’ by Meghan’s arrival and how she would be ‘forced to compete’ with the actress.

In their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan revealed she began experiencing suicidal thoughts while she was pregnant with Archie in 2019 and was not given the support she needed.

Harry and Meghan’s popularity with the British public has undoubtedly dipped since the couple left the royal family.

But many Brits still love Meghan, who regularly attracts large crowds of fans at formal gatherings, and has a loyal following, bolstered by her media appearances and TV ventures.

However it looks unlikely that the couple will return to the UK with Meghan seeming to have cut ties following the Queen’s funeral.

In December Harry revealed that he and Meghan have no plans to return, citing security and their children as their main reasons to stay in the US.

Meghan has not visited the UK since September 2022 when she attended the Queen’s funeral.

She opted not to attend King Charles’s Coronation and has not joined Prince Harry during the many trips he has made to the UK in the last two years.

Meghan’s Netflix series failed to attract British audiences and she said she has set her sights on building her lifestyle brand in the US.

Harry said last year that he does not feel it is safe to bring Meghan to the UK and vowed his wife would not return to the UK until his security provision has been upgraded.