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Kate Middleton's "respectful" curtsey won the approval of social media fans on Thursday as extended members of the royal family rallied at a Christmas service, hours after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made a number of bombshell claims in their Netflix docuseries.
The Christmas carol service, spearheaded by Kate as the new Princess of Wales in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II, marked the biggest showing out in force of the royal family since the late-monarch's state funeral in September.
On Thursday, Netflix debuted the final part of the six-episode limited series Harry & Meghan in which the couple made a number of bombshell claims about the monarchy and the royal family. These included allegations that Prince William screamed and shouted at his brother during a meeting about the Sussexes' decision to step down as senior royals, and that King Charles told lies during the same encounter.
A video clip taken from the Westminster Abbey Together at Christmas carol concert on Thursday evening showed Kate performing respectful curtseys to King Charles and Queen Camilla as they entered the venue. The video has been viewed nearly two million times on the social media site TikTok, winning praise from commenters.
Since its upload by user royalsintheworld, the video has gained in excess of 75,000 likes and 2,000 comments. "Kate as always so respectful of the King and Queen," posted one user, with another adding: "such class and respect I absolutely love this😁😁😁😁🥰."
The viral nature of the clip showing Kate performing a curtsey comes after Meghan Markle caused controversy in the U.K. for appearing to mock her own attempts at curtseying the late queen in an early episode of the Netflix show.
In describing her first meeting with Queen Elizabeth II—her future grandmother-in-law—and the need to curtsey to her, the duchess said: "I mean, Americans will understand this, we have 'medieval times, dinner and tournament.' It was like that."
After performing an exaggerated form of the medieval bow as Harry watched on in silence, she added that she had said: "Pleasure to meet you, your majesty, was that OK?"
Though this anecdote was recounted without malice, it was described by some as a PR "blunder" with many on social media criticizing her further for being disrespectful to U.K. customs.
Both Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace have adopted a no-comment approach to the Harry & Meghan series which intensified public interest in seeing the senior royals gathered for the first time since its broadcast.
Alongside Charles, Camilla, William, and Kate, other royals in attendance included Prince George and Princess Charlotte; Sophie, Countess of Wessex; the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester; Prince and Princess Michael of Kent and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.
Eugenie appeared in the final episode of her cousin's Netflix show, depicted in home video footage captured at the Sussexes California mansion.
The carol service marked the second spearheaded by Kate to celebrate exceptional members of communities around the U.K. and her charities. During last year's event the royal made her piano-playing debut, accompanying singer Tom Walker for a performance of his song For Those Who Can't Be Here.
The 2022 service, which will be broadcast in Britain on Christmas eve, paid tribute to Elizabeth II and the values she upheld and included a reading from one of her famous Christmas speeches by Prince William.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's Royal Reporter based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith 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.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more