Normally, once the latest royal appearance comes to an end, it’s the new Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, who finds her understanding of royal protocol under scrutiny. Whether it’s her "Duchess slant," or her choice of nail color, there’s normally a royal family correspondent who’s got something to say on the matter. This time however, it was Prince Harry who suffered an endearingly awkward moment in front of the cameras—and you don’t need to be a royal expert to spot this one.
Accompanying Meghan and mother-in-law Doria Ragland to the launch of his wife’s first solo project as Duchess, Prince Harry showed up at Kensington Palace to greet guests at the launch of Together: Our Community Kitchen. Amongst them was Zahira Ghaswala, co-ordinator of Hubb Community Kitchen, who Harry was happy to meet on arrival.
But, after Doria gave a double-kiss to Zahira while saying hello, Harry went to follow suit following an introduction from Meghan. Instead, he found himself awkwardly getting the whole thing mixed up. Luckily, because this is Prince Harry we’re talking about, the Duke simply laughed the whole thing off, fixed it with an air kiss, and continued to enjoy the introduction.
As user @TheFieldMuslim fairly pointed out, there may have been a more thoughtful concern behind Harry’s blunder than you first considered, and he could have simply been saving Zahira any potential embarrassment. “Greeting a Muslim woman, Prince Harry he knows that it's not quite the right etiquette in Islam to kiss her, but he pretends to do it anyway,” they observed on Twitter.
Aside from Harry’s awkward moment, the exciting, laidback launch went without a hitch. The Duchess of Sussex gave her first speech as a royal family representative, and spoke warmly of her excitement and passion for her involvement in the community project.
"I had just recently moved to London, and I felt so immediately embraced by the women in the kitchen, their warmth, and their kindness, and also to be able to see, in this one small room, how multicultural it was," she said, while Harry watched proudly from the sidelines. "On a personal level, I feel so proud to live in a city that can have so much diversity. It's 12 countries represented in this one group of women. It's pretty outstanding.”
Don’t worry Harry—this, along with the sneaky samosa stealing, just makes you even more lovable.
