I had occasion to go to the palace once and an aide type person demonstrated to us how to curtsy.
presumably you were visiting as a member of the public and not serious girlfriend of the queen’s grandson, though? I’m not sure it would be usual for an aide to inform partners of the royal family that they must curtsey, and how they should do it, wouldn’t that be seen as quite rude? In Meghan’s case the aide probably assumed that she already knew what to do if she was with Harry. Maybe the aide just said to her “the queen is ready to see you now” and she quickly asked “but what should I say, do I shake her hand and say hello?” And the aide quickly said “just give a quick curtsey and say X and then you’ll find she’ll do the talking and try to put you your ease.” As they’re walking along Harry coukd have been whispering “you know not to curtsey, right?” He may have assumed she’d seen footage of walkabouts with the public so seen people doing it.
there are all sorts of reasons why Harry looked annoyed. It could be that she was exaggerating the curtsey, for effect. To suggest how awkward she felt at not getting it quite right. Like we’ve all exaggerated details of anecdotes slightly when we have an audience, to make it more interesting and funny, while our partner rolls their eyes because they’ve heard it told loads of times and know you’re going a bit OTT with it.
or it could be that it suggested that Harry hadn’t prepped her enough. She could well have googled “what do you do when you meet the queen?” And found the answer to be “ladies should give a quick curtsey, men should bow. You should address her as blah blah blah…..”. Still doesn’t tell you what a curtsey is, and if the only curtsey you’ve seen is in plays or comedy shows or something then maybe you think you know what it is? Ballet dancers curtsey but with their arms out so the fact she’d done ballet is neither here nor there.
I didn’t read it as mocking the monarchy. She didn’t say “so I curtseyed, even though it seems funny to me to have to do that.”
interesting seeing everyone’s take on it though, demonstrates perfectly how when you’re in the public eye, no matter what you do, someone will pick faults in it. She also said, remember, that when she first had paparazzi following her when the story broke of her involvement with Harry, that she would smile at them, but then Harry told her to be careful how that appears to the world, because he knew that the media and some parts of the public would spin it as her loving the attention. If she’d just done a half smile not in their direction no doubt she would have been criticised somewhere for trying to copy the way his mother was when she was first followed. And if she’d ignored them completely she would have been portrayed as a stuck up bitch.
they can’t win. I have an open mind. I don’t know then but at least they’re speaking on camera for themselves. Unlike the “keep schtum” ridiculous stance of the RF.