Meghan Markle Takes the Lead on Colombia Trip: Prince Harry's 'Puzzled' Expressions Raise Eyebrows Over Royal Protocol

Prince Harry looked perplexed and "puzzled" when his wife, Meghan Markle, took the lead in public multiple times throughout their four-day "faux royal tour" of Colombia.

This led former royal butler Grant Harrold to state on behalf of Slingo, "It was interesting to see Meghan take the lead, which has obviously led to lots of people questioning why this is when he is the one who technically should be. He is a gentleman and he clearly likes to see his wife taking the lead too and giving her that opportunity."

"There were a couple of moments where he looked a bit perplexed, and a bit puzzled," he added. "I don’t know if that was to do with this, as royal protocol is quite strict. It’s a bit like how the late Queen Elizabeth was with Prince Philip, with her husband always taking a couple of steps behind and taking the lead, unless he was doing something independently."

The former palace aide, who worked for then-Prince Charles as well as Prince William and Harry from 2004-2011 pointed out how ancient royal protocol may have been what confused the Duke.

"With William and Catherine, it’s much more 50/50, and the same with Meghan, but there are some questions to be raised now she seems to have taken more of a lead here," he continued. "There were one or two images where he did look a bit puzzled, and it might be nothing to do with the fact she’s taken the lead, and this could be him thinking back to royal protocol."

Harrold's insights about the Duchess of Sussex taking the lead contradict royal protocol where reigning Queen Regnants are the only female royals to ever do so.

"Maybe he’s feeling he should be the one taking the lead here, but she does tend to take a step back when they do things together. This may have been arranged and pre-planned, but I would have thought Harry would have been taking the lead slightly more," the ex-palace assistant concluded.

The pair were in the South American nation at the request of its government, specifically Vice President Marquez, who said she wanted to ask them on the tour since she was moved by their 2022 Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan.

The Duke and Duchess promoted "The Parent's Network," which according to the couple's website, is a "global community [that] aims to provide crucial support to parents whose children have suffered from the harmful effects of social media, from facing near-fatal harm, managing ongoing mental health difficulties, or experiencing the tragic loss of a child."

The Duchess reportedly wasted no time in "running the show" once they officially arrived on Thursday, August 15.

This led influential lip reader Nicola Hickling to share how it all kicked off with Meghan covertly snapping behind a smile to Harry to give her his "hand," to which the fifth in line to the throne submissively replied: "Here you go."