Fast Links
Both Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made a decision to step down from the royal family back in 2020. In a move known as ‘Megxit,’ the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced on Instagram their decision to denounce their roles as ‘senior’ members’ of the British royal family. This decision arose because Meghan wanted to raise her children, Archie and Lilibet, away from the Royal Rota.
Meghan Couldn’t Curtsy
It came out not long after that she didn’t understand how the British monarchy operated.
“The Queen never really was concerned about whether or not people bowed or curtsied to her or not,” Michael Cole via OK! reports. “Cherie Blaire, former Prime Minister’s wife, apparently didn’t curtsy and, OK, so who cares, the late Queen had too good manners to care.”
It’s one thing to not curtsy, but an entirely different thing to not know how. For Meghan, her issue was the latter.
“The Queen was too well-mannered to notice, even if people wanted to be discourteous,” Cole added. “She would have not even noticed it.”
The Ignorance of Meghan’s American Heritage
“I think the thing about Meghan was, she had no idea what was expected of her really,” Glenconner said on the “Rosebud with Gyles Brandreth” podcast in 2023.
“I think she just thought it was sort of like being another actress, you know?”
Meghan blamed her ignorance on the influence of U.S. culture.
“I would say I went into it naively because I didn’t grow up knowing much about the royal family,” Markle told Oprah Winfrey for Oprah with Meghan and Harry,. “It wasn’t part of something that was part of [the] conversation at home.”
When Meghan Markle met Prince Harry in 2016, the two dated for a short while before becoming engaged in 2017. Although her relationship with Harry was initially met with backlash and criticism, the U.K. has since accepted her as a member of the royal family.
Markle, after becoming the Duchess of Sussex, quit her acting career and worked on becoming a British citizen.