Meghan Critic Who Accused Her of Uvalde PR Stunt Mocked for Queen PR Stunt

A prominent critic of Meghan Markle has been mocked for recording four takes of a video leaving flowers for Queen Elizabeth II four months after accusing the duchess of a "tacky photo opportunity."

GB News host Dan Wootton posted a video of himself leaving a bouquet at Buckingham Palace on Saturday, September 10, two days after Elizabeth died.

However, footage later emerged of Wootton appearing to pick the flowers up and re-record the segment while another Twitter user described seeing him do four separate takes.

It comes four months after he criticized Meghan for visiting Uvalde to pay tribute to the victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting and almost two years after he mocked her and Prince Harry over a photo shoot at a cemetery on Remembrance Sunday.

Dan Wootton's Tribute to Queen Elizabeth II

"I wanted to return to Buckingham Palace today for some quiet reflection and lay my own tribute," Wootton's post read. "Crowds young, old, from all ethnicities and backgrounds. Truly the best of British doing her justice."

The footage shows him laying a bunch of flowers alongside other tributes, stepping back and pausing with his hands together.

Twitter user Andy McCarroll replied to the post: "Hi Dan, I was beside you there today. Nothing says 'quiet reflection' like doing 4 takes of that video.

"Then directing your friend to 'make sure you get the shot of me praying after I lay the flowers' and checking the video after each effort."

Another Twitter user shared a video of Wootton picking up the flowers, with a sarcastic caption implying Wootton stole flowers from the palace.

Another Twitter user mocked Wootton by posting a video showing a man pretending to be the one shooting the video outside the palace.

Dan Wootton's Criticisms of Meghan and Harry

Wootton said he found it "unimaginable" that Meghan went to Uvalde to pay tribute to victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting but did not visit her father in hospital after his stroke.

In a column for MailOnline, he wrote: "Family comes before anything else for me. So, like many others, I find it unimaginable that Meghan Markle the length of the country for a tacky photo opportunity at the site of the Uvalde school shooting, possibly with Netflix reality show cameras in tow, but not drive three-and-a-half hours down the road to see her stricken dad in hospital, who is recovering from a life-threatening stroke that has cruelly stolen his speech."

Meghan and Harry also brought their photographer with them to Los Angeles National Cemetery to mark Remembrance Sunday in Britain on November 8, 2020.

At the time, the couple was in America and unable to get to Britain due to coronavirus lockdown, however, the palace staff had blocked a request from Harry to have a wreath laid at The Cenotaph in London on his behalf.

Meanwhile, the U.K.-based royals gathered to pay their respects as part of Britain's national remembrance service.

Wootton tweeted at the time: "How lucky that a photographer happened to be here to capture this deeply personal moment."

Public Reaction to Dan Wootton's Queen Tribute

Wootton's tribute to the queen sparked a Twitter backlash that reached not only supporters of the Sussexes but also senior figures in the media.

Among them was Jon Sopel, a former veteran BBC correspondent, who now co-hosts the daily podcast The News Agents alongside Emily Maitlis, who conducted the train wreck interview that crashed Prince Andrew's career.

He posted a photo of Wootton's critique of the cemetery visit and wrote: "Could this Dan Wootton [be] related to the one below? Just asking..."

Left-wing commentator Owen Jones wrote: "If we lived in the film Ghost, Dan Wootton's soul would be carried off by the cackling demons."

Do you have a question about Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles III or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.