Awkward moment Meghan edges out from behind director during her speech about her Cookie Queens movie

A giddy Duchess of Sussex failed to hide her excitement at the Sundance Film Festival world premiere of her documentary about Girl Scouts.

The former actress, 44, couldn’t resist moving out from behind director Alysa Nahamias during her speech introducing the film to an audience in Utah including Prince Harry.

The Sussexes are among 24 executive producers, co-producers and producers on Cookie Queens, a documentary about the American tradition of Girl Scouts selling biscuits to raise money.

The Duchess of Sussex looked delighted as she posed for selfies after arriving at the Eccles Theatre in Salt Lake City on Sunday.

She then took her enthusiastic backing for the project to the stage, standing directly behind director Alysa as she introduced the documentary on Saturday morning.

As Ms Nahamias thanked Meghan ‘for her incredible support’, the Duchess was spotted slowly edging outwards on to the stage and into view from behind her.

The former actress smiled shyly, with her arms folded, as Alysa said from the podium: ‘I’m grateful for your unwavering trust in me as an artist and your belief in the power of our film’s story’.

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Meghan Markle edges out on to stage as she supported the director of Cookie Queens, Alysa Nahamias

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Meghan had been out of view, moved out into view as she was praised by Alysa, and slipped back behind her again around a minute later

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Meghan also gave her own speech praising the film before walking off stage to sit with her husband Harry, who was in the audience

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Meghan poses with a fan at the Sundance Film Festival this week with Harry in the background

Around a minute later, after claps and cheers, Meghan edged sideways in the opposite direction and back out of view behind the director.

Meghan said she and her husband are ‘proud and privileged’ to have worked on it. Although it has been claimed their involvement with the film began only after it was completed.

It came as Meghan and Harry’s fans rubbished claims the event was not a sell-out.

Meghan, a former Girl Scout herself, gave a speech on stage herself praising the film and thanking so many people for coming to see it.

‘This film is probably the cutest at the festival’, she said.

According to reports, there were a number of unoccupied seats at the Eccles Theatre screening on Sunday morning.

People had to be turned away from the premiere of Olivia Wilde‘s ‘The Invite,’ starring Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton the night before.

Pictures online appeared to showed significant spaces on the balcony above the busy stalls area of the theatre before Cookie Queens began.

But supporters of Meghan and Harry, known colloquially as the Sussex Squad, have said claims the couple couldn’t sell out the premiere was a false online conspiracy to attack the couple and the documentary Archewell Productions had co-produced.

One person in the audience insisted it was a ‘packed house’ and a complete sell out.

Others shared images from ticket websites showing there were no tickets available for the premiere – or for the entire week.

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Footage from the theatre was shared where people insisted there were a lot of empty seats, but Sussex fans said it was a sell out

The online row sparked by press reports in the US has led to the two sides trading insults and pictures from inside the venue with critics of the couple who insist they could see empty seats.

There were around 150 empty seats when the premiere of Cookie Queens began on Sunday morning costing up to $7,000 for a pass, The New York Post claimed.

This then reduced to around 60 empty seats when the film began ten minutes late, according to Page Six.

In response, one supporter who was there said: ‘This is silly, it was a packed house at 9am for a documentary in the biggest theater.’

Another tweeted: ‘LIARS, LIARS, LIARS! ALL screenings SOLD OUT!’ Several people shared screengrabs of the theatre’s online ticket page to prove it.

In her speech the Duchess of Sussex thanked people for attending the Sunday morning showing.

She said to cheers on stage: ‘Thank you so much for being here bright and early. I know some of you probably had late nights, last night, so extra thanks for the effort.

‘My husband and I, and Archewell Productions, we are so proud and privileged to be able to support and uplift Cookie Queens.’

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Meghan Markle and Prince Harry pictured alongside Cookie Queens director Alysa Nahamias at Sundance Film Festival

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Meghan is hugged as she arrived at the screening on Sunday with Harry in the background

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Meghan posted photos of her as a Girl Scout selling cookies in April last year

Cookie Queens is yet to find a distributor.

According to Tom Sykes’ The Royalist substack, the couple’s involvement with the film began only after it was completed.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex watched the special screening of their film, which follows four Girl Scouts during the iconic cookie-selling season.

Asked by a reporter whether Lilibet would become a Girl Scout in the future, Meghan gave a vague answer, saying they would ‘continue to explore whatever feels right’.

Meghan says she has a ‘personal affinity’ with the 91-minute film because she was a Girl Scout while growing up in California, with her mother Doria Ragland serving as her troop leader.

Speaking at the festival, Meghan recalled her time in the Girl Scouts and revealed what the experience meant to her.

She told a reporter: ‘It really embeds such great values from the get-go. I was a Girl Scout, my mom was my troop leader and I think the value of friendship, of being dedicated to a goal, as you see that in Cookie Queens, is so reflective of how these girls stick to something that is important to them and don’t give up.

‘And self-belief I think is a really integral value that comes as being a girl scout.’