I've met him a couple of times.... My impression is that one of his best qualities is that he genuinely likes people and makes time for everyone. He's not aloof, he's not a snob. He talks to everyone like an equal, never patronising .This umbrella thing is standard unsurprising behaviour.
It's a quality that's also a weakness though, because I don't think he's very good at telling when someone is about to stab him in the back...a bit too trusting of arseholes...the kind of people who think him holding an umbrella for someone is some kind of weakness