Kate Middleton’s visit to London’s Chelsea Flower Show prompted social media speculation suggesting schoolchildren were not entirely positive about meeting her.
Fans of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry posted photographs on Twitter they felt showed youngsters who were not as excited to meet the Princess of Wales as might be expected during Monday’s visit.
It is impossible to determine exact emotions from the facial expressions of children who may have simply been been bored or momentarily distracted and it is even harder to identify the cause of their emotions.
There were also video clips of children reacting warmly to Kate, including one girl who asked what it was like to be a princess, but Twitter posts joking that the children were hostile were viewed millions of times.
BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images
Twitter Reaction to Kate Middleton at the Chelsea Flower Show
One post, viewed 2.7 million times and liked 24,000 times, read: “I’ve been laughing for 10 minutes now. The diversity PR is not really PRing.”
Another user got 3.9 million views and almost 5,000 likes after posting a picture of Kate with a dog that looked like it was leaning away. The post read: “Even the dog understood the assignment!”
April Reign, creator of #OscarsSoWhite, wrote: “Never in my life have I seen a dog lean away.”
And she also wrote “Oh. My. God.” as she quote tweeted an old photograph of Kate with a child who appeared to be looking away. The post was viewed 2.8 million times and liked 38,500 times.
Problems With Over Interpreting Body Language
Pictures can be deceiving and what that particular image does not show is that the child had just handed Kate a bunch of flowers and was midway through turning to point at something off camera.
The moment came as Kate visited the National Portrait Gallery’s Hospital Programme at Evelina Children’s Hospital on January 28, 2020.
Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge visited the National Portrait Gallery Workshop at Evelina London Children’s Hospital this morning wearing one of her favorite skirt suits! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/lFCYgiSdzs
— InStyle (@InStyle) January 28, 2020
Video footage of the princess’ arrival shows the little girl reaching out to shake Kate’s hand after giving her the bouquet.
And at Chelsea Flower Show, video footage also told a different story to the still images as one little girl appeared happy as she asked Kate what it is like to be a princess. Kate replied: “You have to work hard.”
Harry and Meghan also regularly find themselves at the center of viral social media trends, often on TikTok, that read negative interpretations into brief moments of body language.
Often, these posts rely on the fact it is impossible to prove in either direction what is really happening in the private emotional worlds of the protagonists in a brief video clip or photo from a public engagement by a royal family member.
It remains unclear whether such viral social media moments influence public opinion or whether they arise because anti-fan communities already exist.
Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek‘s The Royals Facebook page.
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