“The Princess of Wales must cover her head when visiting certain areas of London.” No

In connection with the riots that have swept across the UK in recent weeks, 1,024 people have been arrested, of whom 575 have been charged – she gave on Tuesday, August 13, the National Police Chiefs Council in Great Britain. In turn, according to media calculations, several dozen people were sentenced – usually to prison terms from a dozen or so months to three years.

The UK riots erupted after the murder of three young girls in Southport, near Liverpool, on July 29. The accused is a 17-year-old born in Wales, who is of Rwandan descent. The riots, which lasted for more than a week, were largely anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim in nature, sparked by false information spread on social media that the perpetrator was a Muslim asylum seeker.

In early August, many Polish internet users shared a 17-second recording of the heir to the throne, Prince William, and his wife, Duchess Kate. In the first shot, we see the couple shaking hands with a woman in black. The duchess is wearing a headscarf. The three of them start a conversation, but we don't know what it's about – the recording has no sound.

The royal couple then greet three men, and the woman from the previous shot introduces them. Kate shakes the hand of the man in the middle in greeting, but when she shakes the hand of the last man, who is wearing a gray sweater and a kufi hat, she does not return the gesture – instead she puts her hand to her chest and bows slightly. The duchess withdraws her hand, smiles and bows as well. The moment was replayed on video. The logo of the Daily Mail Online, a British tabloid website, can be seen in the top left corner of the frame.

Many internet users wrote about the recording as if it were current. “Queen Victoria is turning in her grave… Princess of Wales, Kate, must cover her head when visiting certain areas of London – those inhabited by Muslims. In addition, some of her subjects REFUSE to shake her hand. Quo vadis, Great Britan?” – July 9 he wrote anonymous user of the X service who posted the recording. The post has been viewed over 560 thousand times.

The recording from this account was shared by the politician of Sovereign Poland and MP of Law and Justice Dariusz Matecki. “Princess of Wales, Kate – Muslims refuse to shake hands. This is how the monarchy ends, which chose #MasowaMigracja” – Matecki stated in a post from August 9 (original spelling of all posts). His post was viewed over 93 thousand times.

Full of hate entry and the same recording was published by another user X. “The Princess of Wales put a rag on her head so as not to anger the pakol (pakol is a contemptuous term for residents of Pakistan, Afghanistan or more broadly from South Asia or migrants from these countries and the region; it is also the name of the headgear worn by men in that region of the world – ed.)” – he began. His entry had almost 450 thousand views. In turn, Bartłomiej Pejo, MP of the Confederation he wrote: “Princess of Wales wears headscarf in her own country to meet Muslim immigrants, one of whom didn't even shake her hand. Disgraceful.”

Some internet users did not hide their outrage at the situation in the recording. “Slaves in their own kingdom. Massacre”; “Shame”; “UK is falling”; “Handing over to Great Britain, already official?”; “They are gone…” – they commented.

Many did not agree with the critical assessment of the princess's attire and how one of the men behaved towards her. “If you do not know this culture, then do not speak out”; “How many outraged voices that this is how it is in Islam. And no reflection. The dullness is overwhelming”; “Because this is how it is in their culture, it is not a sign of rudeness”; “A blunder, read up. It was the princess who behaved badly. On the one hand, she puts on a head covering, on the other, she behaves according to secular protocol” – they wrote.

We explain the situation presented in the recording and what's up with Kate's headscarf and the awkward moment of greeting.

In early August, the same video also circulated among English-speaking netizens, claiming that Kate Middleton “now officially wears the hijab in the UK” and that it was proof of “the conquest of the UK” and that it had “fully embraced Muslim culture.” This is a false context, as explained by two Indian fact-checking outlets: News checker and The Quint.

The recording is actually a fragment of a longer material published on March 9, 2023 by the British tabloid website “The Daily Mail“. This is a video account of the Prince and Princess of Wales' visit to the Hayes Muslim Centre in west London on the same day. This is a local Muslim community centre and the Royal Couple met with volunteers and aid workers working to help Turkey and Syria after two major earthquakes in February 2023.

A similar video was posted on March 9, 2023, on the official YouTube channel of the British royal family, titled “William and Kate thank volunteers for helping Turkey.” The moment in which Duchess Kate shakes hands with a man at the Hayes Muslim Centre was edited out.

Why did Duchess Kate wear a headscarf during her visit to Hayes Muslim Centre? As reported by the Daily Mail, Kate wore it as a “mark of respect”. What's more, Kate and William took off their shoes at the centre, also as a mark of respect.

The wearing of a headscarf by members of the British royal family when visiting places such as mosques is nothing new. As a sign of respect, members of the British royal family adapt – also in terms of dress – to the customs and traditions of the communities they visit within and outside the UK. This also applies to wearing a headscarf – a custom that is obligatory for women in Muslim places of worship. In 2021, the British conservative daily ” explained and showed examples of thisThe Telegraph“.

Diana, Princess of Wales, mother of Prince William, wore a headscarf in 1990 during meetings at the Husaini Shia Ismaili Centre in London (Southall district) and at the Shaukat Khanum Hospital in Pakistani Lahore in June 1996. Arriving in Dubai in 1989, she had on her head a white and blue hat connected to a turban that completely covered her hair.

Queen Camilla, while still the Duchess of Cornwall, wore a headscarf in 2006 during a visit to the mosque in Pakistan – in accordance with the custom for women in Muslim places of worship. She did the same in 2021 when she visited London's Wightman Road Mosque.

The late Queen Elizabeth II did the same. She covered her head with a scarf, for example, when she was visiting a mosque in Pakistan in 1997, a Sikh temple in Hounslow in the west London in 2004 and four years later the mosque in Turkey.

Before her visit to the Hayes Muslim Centre in 2023, Kate Middleton had worn a headscarf in public on at least two occasions: at the Assyakirin Mosque in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in September 2012 year and then in October 2019 at the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore, Pakistan.

In a video that recently caught the attention of Internet users, Kate and William are seen being greeted by local community leaders, including Imam Sufyan Iqbal. He shook Prince William's hand, but when Duchess Kate extended her hand, he placed his hand over his heart and bowed.

In March 2023, many media outlets drew attention to the princess's “blunder”, the situation was described by the tabloids “The Daily Mail and “The Mirrorr”, local news portal Cornwall Liveor the Australian editorial team Sky News. They wrote about an “awkward moment”, a “faux pas” on Kate's part, not the priest's.

“The Princess of Wales made a rare faux pas after extending her hand to a local community leader in London,” Sky News reported. She went on to explain the imam's behavior: “In some traditional Islamic cultures, men do not shake hands with women, but instead place their hand over their heart and bow as a sign of respect.” The Mirror similarly explained: “(…) in some Islamic cultures, men do not greet women with a handshake. Instead, they place their hand over their chest and bow as a sign of respect.”

“Kate, Princess of Wales, was not offended by the fact that a member of the Muslim community did not shake her hand at a London mosque,” a Buckingham Palace spokesman said. The New Araba pan-Arab news agency based in London. A palace spokesman said the royal couple were briefed on cultural customs ahead of their visit.

Following the Southport knife attack, many misleading messages have been circulating on social media, which are supposed to present current events in Great Britain. We have already verified some of them on Konkret24. Konrad Berkowicz, MP from Konfederacja, incorrectly he convincedthat “British police allow Muslims to attack British”. Many internet users published a video showing “Muslim knife dances in Birmingham” as current, even though it wasn't. Recently we checked a manipulated recording according to which “people on the streets of Great Britain are singing songs about wanting to move to Poland”.