Kate Middleton's Curtsies Go Viral After Meghan Markle 'Blunder'

Kate Middleton's curtsies for Queen Elizabeth II have gone viral on TikTok after Meghan Markle's recreation of her own sparked a backlash.

One social media user grouped together a series of clips of the Princess of Wales curtsying for the monarch, who died on September 8.

The video has been watched 2.5 million times and liked more than 132,000 times and is captioned: "Princess Catherine was always humble and loved honoring the Queen."

Meghan described some of her early experiences in the royal family during the first part of the Netflix series, Harry & Meghan.

She recounted the first time she curtsied for the queen, suggesting she had mistakenly bowed in the manner of someone from medieval times.

The duchess said: "I mean, Americans will understand this, we have 'medieval times, dinner and tournament.' It was like that."

Meghan then performed an exaggerated curtsy in which she bowed forward and spread her hands wide.

She told viewers she had said, "Pleasure to meet you your majesty, was that OK?" and described the moment as "so intense."

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."

In contrast, Christopher Bouzy, chief executive of data analysis firm Bot Sentinel, defended Meghan on Twitter.

On December 9, he wrote: "Meghan Markle didn't mock the Queen or curtsying. She was literally mocking herself."

During her Oprah Winfrey interview, Meghan described the moment without reference to medieval times.

She said: "Harry and I were in the car and he says, 'OK, well my grandmother is there, you're going to meet her.' 'OK, great.' I loved my grandmother, I used to take care of my grandmother. 'Do you know how to curtsy?' 'What?' 'Do you know how to curtsy?'

"I thought genuinely that's what happens outside, that was part of the fanfare. I didn't think that's what happens inside. I go, 'But it's your grandmother'. He goes, 'It's the Queen.'"

Asked how she learned to curtsy, Meghan said she Googled it and said: "Deeply, to show respect, I learned it very quickly right in front of the house. We practiced and walked in."

Meghan added: "Fergie [Sarah Ferguson] ran out and said, 'Are you ready? Do you know how to curtsy? Oh, my goodness, you guys.'

"I practiced very quickly and went in, and apparently, I did a very deep curtsy, and we just sat there and we chatted and it was lovely and easy and I think, thank God, I hadn't known a lot about the family.

"Thank God, I hadn't researched. I would have been so in my head about all of it."