A lot has been made over the fact that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are already “breaking the rules” or perhaps “rewriting the rules” when it comes to royal coupledom and royal traditions and all of that. But what strikes me about everything following Harry and Meg’s engagement week is that she went dark in a hurry. Like, there’s still some protocol she must adhere to, and by that I mean… she has to make the effort to NOT overshadow her future brother-in-law and sister-in-law, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Meghan couldn’t come to last night’s London premiere of The Last Jedi, because if she came then Kate would have been expected to come and then the royals would have “blown their money shot” of Meghan interacting with Will and Kate. Thus, William and Harry went to The Last Jedi premiere without their significant others.
Harry and William also visited the London set of The Last Jedi when they were filming last year. Reportedly, William and Harry have cameos as masked stormtroopers or something. When they first walked onto the carpet last night, they were greeted by BB-8, who formally bowed to both princes.
The Force is strong on this red carpet! #thelastjedi pic.twitter.com/j6NYKzY3lw
— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) December 12, 2017
BB8 bowing to Princes William and Harry 😍😭 pic.twitter.com/qWEo4OSn9r
— Off Set (@WeAreOffSet_UK) December 12, 2017
This made me angry. And then I felt dumb for getting so angry! I anthropomorphize too many things, and as I watched Will and Harry barely reacting to BB-8 and my first thought was “Praise BB-8 for being a good droid, g-ddamn it, that was really cute!” Like BB-8 is sentient or something. Obviously, there was a dude controlling BB-8’s animatronics and the bow was worked out beforehand. Still, it was cool and it deserved more of a reaction than Will and Harry smiling vaguely and not acknowledging the bow. I am totally overreacting, I know.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Kaiser, I do not think that you are overreacting on this, but maybe they were embarrassed by it?? But bowing to these people who hold their positions because their ancestors were barbarians and not due to any skill, talent, or intellect of their own is an archaic practice that needs to be done away with.
You’re not overreacting at all. I was there last night and it was really bloody annoying that the evening became about the princes rather than the cast and crew. I didn’t stand up when we were asked to before the performance. I have zero interest in the royals and I don’t bow down to anyone based on luck of birth. Irritating much. The film is excellent though!
Poor little thing should have been acknowledged !
Or maybe she had no interest in going?
Too late re: overshadowing – “Meghan Markle” was the UK’s most googled phrase!
They are bowed to in everyday life. It’s no big deal to them. How could they respond? They would never bow back. They probably were just asking how bb8 was being maneuvered and moved on.
Their idea of modernising the court is doing less individual functions, in favor of rolling several together, talking more openly when they control the narrative, forcing the press to never talk about/to them unless they give they ok, and taking long holidays away. They still force the bowing rules (at least Will does).
As for Meg not being there, you guys are way too optimistic that the court will push her forward and quickly. She’ll do events here and there but I doubt anything with a red carpet till after marriage.
This. so this.
Plus her and her and Harrys events will be restricted. They are not supposed to overshadow and make others look even more lazy. Plus Harry isnt exactly a work horse either.
She didn’t attend because she is not in the UK at the moment. She is spending time with family and friends before spending Christmas with the royals. Quite normal, I’d say
She needs to be outside the uk for the 14 days it takes to get her visa.
That doesn’t make any sense. She would potentially have been out of the UK for two weeks solid while finishing up the filming of Suits. She’s likely just visiting her mom before Christmas in the UK. Unless as I said below, they couldn’t trust anyone in the visa office to keep their mouth’s shut prior.
@nota, the visa office is a government agency of some sort. I’ve got two resident visas myself (not UK though) and they all were issued by ministries for aliens, immigration, depending on the country. And they were stamped on my passport in the consulates of those countries before I traveled to those countries. Consulates meaning again official government agency.
I bet we won’t hear anything about her visa situation unless it came from KP or an agency in the service of HM The Queen. Who is Harry’s grandmother. Their lips will be sealed.
It was journalists who said about the two week visa issue after the briefing with Jason
She is probably already back in the UK. Meghan and Harry have their entries and exits down to a fine art….I love it.
I’m guessing she’s still with her mom in LA. I’ll bet she’s back in the UK by this weekend. But the money shot with the Cambridges will be the Christmas stroll to church.
Would anyone care to explain the phrase about the royals “blowing their money off” of Meghan interacting with WK? Thanks 😃
Maybe Meghan is outside the UK to have lawyers manage her visa situation. They would do it of course, but she still has to ‘be’ outside the UK to apply for it. A British newspaper published an interview with an immigration lawyer or someone connected to immigration issues who explained the process. Unless she has it already.
That said, it would have been nice to see Meghan at the movie premiere. And see her interacting with the BB8. Now that would have been a treat!
Given how they managed to do everything else so under the radar, I would be very surprised if she didn’t already have a fiancee visa. Or perhaps they didn’t trust anyone in government to keep it secret before now so had to do it after the public announcement?
@nota – that interview was about the immigration process, what Meghan or person going to the UK like Meghan (getting married to a British) would have to do. Not on Meghan in particular. Sorry if my comment was not clear enough. See my response to your comment upthread.
“blowing their money SHOT”, not their “money off.” Which means everyone is waiting for the first photos of Kate and Meghan together (“the money shot”), so the royals likely want to be in control of where and when that happens since it is a big deal to the public.
Bowing and curtsying to fellow humans is not on.
It is in a monarchy. You may disagree with it (are you American?
they often strongly do), but plenty of countries have a practice of this.
Maybe I’m just grumpy this morning, but the next time one of these two complains about how tough their situation is they should be reminded that “normal” people don’t get cameos in Star Wars just cause….
She won’t have a chance to overshadow them let’s be real she will take her ques from her husband. Which has been always to support his brother who will one day be king. She’s going to do as much as her husband who isn’t a workhorse he’s basically Willy with charisma and red hair.
William is one of the most unappealing people I have seen.
Lol yeah I think you are overreacting just a tad. I mean, there’s not much else to do when a robot bows to you. They seem like they smiled and laughed and then moved on. It’s a robot! They probably had more interaction with the person controlling the robot. Which is more important IMO.
If it makes you feel better, Kaiser, during their round of greetings to the cast, Harry actually went in for a hug with the actor who steps in for Peter Mayhew (aka Chewbacca)!! 😀
but did they meet a porg?
No, I think they did acknowledge the bow. You could hear William giggling a bit (like his mother) thinking it was cute. Then Harry said something to William.
I’m so glad we have a Royal Family to attend this premiere to raise awareness of Star Wars to all the peasants who would not have heard of Star Wars otherwise…
I agree with you..I also see the droids as real!!
So my reaction would be to gently pat BB8 gently on his/her head as a gesture of thanks !
It would also be nice for the children watching who still have a sense of wonder..
It shows how awkward William is..and the older he gets the stiffer he gets..
They are so indulged that the privilege to be in the movie..something many would give a Skywalker hand for just goes over their head!
Anyway BB8 seems a good hearted droid ..just like R2 so I am sure he/she doesn’t mind as much as we do..
I am going to be honest, if you didn’t tell me that bb8 was bowing I would have not realised that was what he was doing. I some how thought of bowing like the Japanese, with whole body. Forgive me it’s been a long day.
But it was very cute , I want a bb8 for Xmas.