The Princess of Wales has become the focus of a new viral video as fans have highlighted a hidden prompt given to her daughter Princess Charlotte at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, advising her when to curtsy.
Charlotte, Prince William and Kate’s only daughter, won praise on social media on the day of her great-grandmother’s state funeral, for her mature composure during the ceremony and for her respectful curtsy outside Westminster Abbey.
Charlotte joined Kate and other senior royal women—including step-grandmother, Queen Camilla; her great-aunt, the Duchess of Edinburgh; and aunt, the Duchess of Sussex—in offering curtsies to the late queen’s coffin as it left Westminster Abbey on September 19, 2022.
William and Kate’s eldest son, Prince George, was also with the group, offering a bow at the solemn moment in the procession.
Karwai Tang/WireImage/Geoff Pugh – WPA Pool/Getty Images
Curtsies have become an increased gesture of public fascination in recent months, since Prince Harry and Meghan’s Netflix docuseries sparked controversy when the duchess described how she initially thought being asked to curtsy to Queen Elizabeth was a “joke.”
The duchess also re-enacted an overdramatized bow when discussing her first curtsy, leading some commentators to accuse her of disrespecting the queen and British customs.
Since the show’s release in December 2022, a number of royal curtsies have gone viral across social media platforms, with the latest being related to the state funeral group gesture.
Uploaded to TikTok by user svyl2, on January 15, footage highlights the little known moment where Kate appeared to signal to her daughter when the appropriate moment to curtsy was, with Charlotte soon taking her lead.
Captioned “Princess Kate and Princess Charlotte,” the video has been viewed over 200,000 times in less than 24 hours, gaining in excess of 9,000 likes and numerous comments, many of which have praised the royal mother and daughter duo.
“The gentle touch lovely mom,” wrote one user.
“So gracefully its done,” posted another, with a further comment reading: “She’s more royal than all of them. She’s earned it.”
Princess Charlotte, along with her siblings, has seen her public profile increase since the death of Queen Elizabeth. Not only have they moved one position closer to the throne in the line of succession, but they have also been seen at an increased number of events, most prominently at those organized to celebrate the coronation of their grandfather, King Charles III, in May 2023.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek‘s royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek‘s The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.