Ever since marrying Prince William in 2011, the Princess of Wales (formerly known as Kate Middleton) has become adept at royal protocol, including executing a proper curtsy. While this may not seem difficult, Meghan Markle admitted she initially struggled with it. In the Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex talked about her first meeting with Queen Elizabeth, where she was instructed to curtsy.
“I remember we were in the car, driving, and he [Harry] said, ‘You know how to curtsy, right?’ I just thought it was a joke,” Meghan recalled. “Now I’m starting to realize this is a big deal. I mean, Americans will understand this. We have Medieval Times dinner and tournament. It was like that. I curtsied as though I was like, ‘Pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty,'” she said, laughing while bowing and spreading out her arms.
Eventually, Meghan learned how to perfect the act. Some have even compared hers to her sister-in-law’s as there have been countless video clips posted over the years showing some of the ladies’ best curtsies. Now, another video is circulating highlighting several of Kate’s curtsies and one moment she avoided a disaster as she lost her footing while pregnant with Prince Louis.
The video of the Princess of Wales effortlessly curtsying was uploaded to TikTok in May 2024. It shows several instances in which Kate bends her knees with one foot in front of the other for the late Queen Elizabeth and also King Charles.
At the 30-second mark of the one-minute-nine-second clip, Kate moves backward as she starts to lose her footing but grabs onto Prince William to avoid losing her balance completely and falling down. The text in the video at that moment reads: “When you nearly fall, but style it out like a queen.”
This incident occurred in March 2018, a month before the princess gave birth to Prince Louis. She and William attended the annual Irish Guards St Patrick’s Day Parade at Cavalry Barracks in Hounslow, England. Kate was dressed in a Catherine Walker pine green coat with gold double-breasted buttons down the front and black stockings. She wore a matching green hat and suede block heels for the event.
So far, the video has over 60,000 views and counting with more than 2000 likes. It also garnered dozens of comments as many praised the Princess of Wales for what the video described as Kate’s “perfect curtsies.”
One person wrote: “Diana would have been so proud of William and Catherine and their respect for the monarchy, just like herself.”
A second added: “She’s quietly learnt all the royal etiquette and traditions over the years and has become our beloved Princess of Wales, the only woman who could have Diana’s title and do it justice.”
Another user agreed writing: “Kate subtly learned how to become the perfect princess. She’s a class act.”
And a fourth posted: “Even without the word ‘curtsies’ you have it spot on Kate’s ‘perfect.’”
