Meghan Markle’s ‘Infamous’ Gesture Compared to Royal Pageantry

Meghan Markle recreating her first curtsy in front of Queen Elizabeth II during her Netflix show has been compared to King Charles III’s coronation by royalists.

The Duchess of Sussex said in her Netflix Harry & Meghan documentary about her first meeting with the monarch in a series released three months after Elizabeth’s death.

And she was accused of cultural insensitivity after she performed a mock curtsy that was closer to a bow, saying: “I mean, Americans will understand this, we have ‘medieval times, dinner and tournament.’ It was like that.”

She then impersonated herself, saying “pleasure to meet you your majesty, was that OK?” and adding that it was “so intense.”

The curtsy became the stand-out viral moment of the Netflix series and has lived on for more than a year afterwards in a variety of TikTok videos.

The latest shows Meghan’s mock curtsy followed by the pageantry of King Charles’ coronation, including images of the king and Queen Camilla wearing their crowns at the Buckingham Palace balcony.

Prince William and Kate Middleton were also prominent along with their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

Most of the clips show the royals watching a fly-past by the Royal Air Force, including a display by helicopters as well as aerobatic pilots from the Red Arrows.

The video was posted with the message “Royal Family> M&H” and went viral after it was liked around 38,000 times and viewed 637,000 times.

One reply read: “Meghan and Harry are not cut out for royal life or royal duties.”

Meghan was heavily criticized for the mock curtsy after the Netflix series aired in December 2022.

At the time, Edward Coram James, U.K.-based PR expert and chief executive of Go Up, told Newsweek: “I think the biggest blunder of the entire thing didn’t come from the royal family, it came from the Sussexes, which is the infamous fake bow.

“It’s one thing to not understand another culture but if you respect the culture nonetheless then that is excusable. It’s another thing to not understand the culture and make fun of it and kind of patronize it.

“I’m very much on the fence with all this stuff but whether you are a royal sympathizer or not, bowing to the queen is a deeply ingrained royal tradition in the U.K. from working people through to countless celebrities who have done the same and done so with quite a lot of pride.

“And so she’s not just mocking that, she’s mocking an aspect of British culture which few people can get away with, especially people subject to extreme privilege like Meghan Markle.”

Bizarrely, Prince Harry’s appears to remember the curtsy somewhat differently to Meghan and in his book Spare he wrote: “We entered the large front sitting room and there she was. Granny. The monarch. Queen Elizabeth II. Standing in the middle of the room.

“She turned slightly. Meg went straight to her and dropped a deep, flawless curtsy. ‘Your Majesty. Pleasure to meet you.'”

Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek‘s The Royals Facebook page.

Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We’d love to hear from you.