Unearthed footage shows what really happened between Meghan Markle and Queen Elizabeth during her wedding to Prince Harry – following moment that left the world shocked

Although the Royal Family has a plethora of long-established rules and protocols that need to be followed, the most important one has always been to bow or curtsey to the monarch.

The practice is so ingrained into the DNA of The Firm that even as children, Princes William and Harry were taught to bow before running over to their Granny (the Queen) and kissing her on the cheek.

Although the etiquette may seem arcane, it is taken very seriously by those in the institution, with male members bowing and female members curtseying to each other – both in public and in private.

So when it looked like Meghan Markle had forgotten to curtsey to the Queen as she walked down the aisle at her wedding to Prince Harry in May 2018, the world was shocked.

Social media went into a frenzy as viewers began to question what they had just seen, with some suggesting she had been so overwhelmed by the occasion it had slipped her mind, while others mused that as she was American she was exempt. 

Had Meghan just made the ultimate royal faux pas in front of 600 guests at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle and hundreds of millions watching from around the world?

Royal fans took to social media to ask if they had somehow missed the moment by looking away or if there had been an unexpected change of protocol. 

Etiquette coach William Hanson spluttered on social media: ‘Meghan – did you curtsey to Her Majesty? I will have to lie down for months if you did forget.’ 

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle leave St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle after their wedding ceremony on May 19, 2018

Viewers at home were left stunned when the camera showed Harry and Meghan not bowing or curtseying as they walked down the aisle together 

The pair were not filmed bowing or curtseying as the camera cut to this angle in the ceiling just as they carried it out

WATCH the moment Harry and Meghan see the Queen: 

In fact, no, she hadn’t. But it had looked like it, thanks to some shoddy camera work.

Some eagle-eyed viewers watching at home pointed out that just before the pair bowed/curtseyed, the TV changed its angle to a camera shot from inside the chapel.

The pair can be seen just barely starting to carry out the mark of respect before the camera suddenly cuts away.

From the new angle in the ceiling, viewers are able to see Harry bowing his head, while Meghan’s curtsey is more difficult to make out. 

In the months prior to the big day Meghan had been schooled in royal etiquette and traditions by royal household and diplomatic staff. 

As she had married into The Firm at the age of 36, she was not brought up to appreciate all of the intricacies of life in the limelight like her husband. 

The American actress had to learn how to give a proper royal handshake, stand up when the Queen does, avoid any PDA and remember not to sign any autographs. 

Her training also included how to greet dignitaries – and expect to be greeted – once she becomes a member of the Royal Family, how to behave on royal engagements and the intricacies of palace life. 

Curtseying to the Queen on your wedding day is a time-honoured tradition, with Princess Diana, Fergie and Kate Middleton all doing it when they married their princes. 

Social media went into a frenzy as viewers began to question if Meghan and Harry had not paid the proper respect to the Queen

In the months prior to the big day Meghan had been schooled in royal etiquette and traditions by royal household and diplomatic staff

Sarah, Duchess of York, curtseys and Prince Andrew bows to the Queen at their wedding in Westminster Abbey on July 23, 1986 

Princess Diana and Prince Charles curtsey and bow to Queen Elizabeth II after their wedding on July 29, 1981

Meghan pictured travelling in an Ascot Landau carriage as she and Prince Harry began their procession through Windsor following their wedding

And due to the Royal Family’s strict hierarchical system, Meghan still had to curtsey to senior royals even after her big day.

She had to bend the knee to those ranked higher than her, including Prince Philip, Prince Charles, Camilla, and even William and Kate, as per the official Order of Precedence.

The Order of Precedence affects other aspects of royal protocol, such as who arrives first at an event and who walks in front of others.

A noteworthy example of this was when Camilla was forced to wait in the drizzle outside the Guards’ Chapel at Windsor for the arrival of Princess Anne at a memorial service in 2006, all because Charles had not accompanied her. 

Alongside Kate, Meghan also has to curtsey to ‘blood princesses’ who were born into the Royal Family, such as Princess Anne, Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice – but only when she’s not with Prince Harry.

Five months before her wedding, Meghan debuted the perfect curtsey as she greeted the Queen outside the church of St Mary Magdalene at Sandringham at Christmas.

But it seems Meghan has not always been so enthused by the traditional practice. 

In her and Harry’s 2022 Netflix ‘docuseries’, she appeared to mock her own efforts at following royal protocol as she recounted the ‘surreal’ moment she first met the Queen.

The late Queen looks at Meghan during her wedding to Prince Harry 

The now controversy-laden Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby officiated at Meghan and Harry’s wedding 

The bride and groom leave the chapel after the wedding 

Five months before her wedding, Meghan debuted the perfect curtsey as she greeted the Queen outside the church of St Mary Magdalene at Sandringham at Christmas

Meghan was seen showing her curtseying skill on Christmas at Sandringham in 2018  

Sophie curtseys to Queen Elizabeth II at an event for the arts in London on May 23, 2012

Catherine curtseys to the Queen at an event in Nottingham for her Diamond Jubilee UK Tour on June 13, 2012

On the blockbuster TV show, which became the broadcaster’s second most popular documentary ever, she performed a deeply exaggerated curtsey in front of an awkward looking Prince Harry.

Bowing and curtseying protocol within the Royal Family

As a general rule, male members of the Royal Family bow their heads when greeting each other while female members bob down to curtsey.

However, rank also plays a role.

Everyone in the Royal Family, including men with the ‘His Royal Highness’ (e.g. Prince William, Prince Edward) and women with the ‘Her Royal Highness’ title (e.g. Princess Catherine, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, Princess Anne), is required to bow or curtsey to His Majesty King Charles and Her Majesty Queen Camilla.

Even the King’s children, Prince William and Prince Harry, should greet their father with a bow of the head.

Occasionally, you will see members of the Royal Family not bowing or curtseying to greet the King and Queen. Instead they may greet each other with kisses on the cheeks. This is usually the case if they have seen each other earlier on during the same day.

The tradition of royals bowing or curtseying to the King and Queen even extends to their wedding days.

When Prince William married Kate Middleton, they made sure to greet the late Queen Elizabeth II with the appropriate gestures.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle did the same on their big day.

Meghan met the Queen for the first time during a lunch at Royal Lodge in Windsor, shortly after she and the duke revealed they were dating in 2016.

But she said the whole occasion felt like an antiquated banquet at Medieval Times, a family dinner theatre in the US featuring staged medieval-style games, sword-fighting and jousting.

The Duke of Sussex described how Meghan meeting the Queen for the first time was a ‘shock to the system’.

Harry said: ‘My grandmother was the first senior member of the family that Meghan met. She had no idea what it all consisted of so it was a bit of a shock to the system for her.’

Meghan said: ‘There wasn’t like some big moment of “Now you’re going to meet my grandmother”. I didn’t know I was going to meet her until moments before.

‘We were in the car and we were going to Royal Lodge for lunch, and he’s like “Oh, my grandmother’s here, we’re going to meet her after church.”

‘And I remember we were in the car driving up and he’s like “You know how to curtsey, right?” And I just thought it was a joke.’

Harry said: ‘How do you explain that to people? How do you explain that you bow to your grandmother? And that you will need to curtsey. Especially to an American. That’s weird.’

Meghan added: ‘Now I’m starting to realise “This is a big deal”. I mean, Americans will understand this… We have Medieval Times, dinner and tournament. It was like that.

‘Like, I curtsied as though I was like… “Pleasure to meet you your Majesty.”

‘It was so intense. And then when she left, Eugenie and Jack and Fergie say “you did great!”. Thanks. I didn’t know what I was doing.’

Nevertheless, despite her private reservations, Meghan eventually managed to seemingly master the curtsey.

The curtsey is a traditional gesture of greeting by a girl or a woman to someone more senior in social rank and dates back to at least the Middle Ages. 

It is derived from a ‘courtesy’ and is simply a mark of respect. It became gender specific in the 17th century, with men adopting the bow and women the curtsey. 

In Meghan and Harry’s Netflix documentary, the Duchess appeared to mock her own efforts at following royal protocol as she recounted the ‘surreal’ moment she first met the Queen – performing a deeply exaggerated curtsy

The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was watched by millions of people around the world 

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle riding through Windsor in an Ascot Landau carriage after their wedding ceremony at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle

Meghan beams as she and Harry tie the knot in 2018

It really took off in Victorian times. Women’s dresses were so large that a little bob would hardly have been noticeable. Instead, women began to curtsey with more depth. 

Later, when Edwardian dress came in, some women started holding up the material of their skirts or dresses as part of the curtsey. 

But despite the row over the apparent lack of curtseying at the wedding being fake, there were plenty of real controversies that raised eyebrows at the grand occasion.    

When Meghan’s heel became tangled in her wedding veil as she stepped out of the Rolls-Royce, the escorting officer who opened the door offered her no help – leaving her to struggle. 

Royal author Tom Bower claimed he was told by another officer that he remained unhelpful because of an incident during the wedding rehearsal the previous day and that ‘no one had any feeling of goodwill towards the bride’. 

More concerns were raised after the Phantom IV that took her to the chapel in her dress had previously been used by another American divorcee, Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor, to the funeral of her husband in 1972.

The Queen also expressed her disapproval when Meghan decided to wear a veil in the first place, as it was to be her second marriage, according to Bower. 

Meanwhile it later emerged that there had been a row between Harry and one of the Queen’s closest aides over the tiara the duchess wanted to wear at her wedding – dubbed ‘Tiara-gate’ by the press. 

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stand on the steps of the chapel after the wedding

Prince Charles walked Meghan down the aisle after her own father cancelled at last minute

The Royal Family watches the wedding from the pews of St George’s chapel

And Meghan was said to have complained about the mustiness of St George’s chapel and wanted it sprayed with air freshener before the ceremony. 

There was further trouble over the bridesmaids’ dresses, as it was reported that Meghan had reduced Kate to tears with her manner. 

However, the Duchess of Sussex later claimed in her 2021 bombshell interview with Oprah that it was actually Kate who had made her cry. 

So although Meghan may have followed protocol in curtseying to the Queen, it appears on a series of other points she was prepared to go against the royal grain.

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