David Baddiel lamented that laughing had become ‘weaponised’ (Picture: Getty Images)
David Baddiel has defended Meghan Markle’s explanation of her curtsey to the late Queen in her explosive Netflix documentary with Prince Harry.
The Duchess of Sussex, who was born and raised in LA, recalled how she learned the British custom shortly before meeting Her Majesty for the first time in the six-part series.
The 41-year-old explained to the programme makers: ‘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 [Harry] was like, “Oh, my grandmother is here. She’s going to be there after church.”
‘I remember we were in the car, driving, and he’s like, “You know how to curtsy, right?” And I just thought it was a joke.’
It then dawned on the former Suits actor that the meeting with the Queen, who died in September, was a ‘big deal’, adding: ‘I mean Americans would understand this.’
Meghan then went on to reenact the curtsy in an exaggerated fashion, extending her arms at full length, in a moment that has apparently divided viewers.
Despite the light-hearted reimagining of the scene, some viewers on Twitter have blasted the Archetypes host for ‘mocking’ the curtsy.
‘I don’t really join in H and Meghan but it’s really awful the way she mocks a curtsey. That’s all,’ she added.
However, many others have pointed out that she was laughing at her elf for not being able to curtsy.
Meghan Markle opened up about the first time she met the Queen (Picture: Netflix / BACKGRID)
An account wrote: ‘If you still doubt that the treatment of Meghan is driven in racism and misogyny, just look how last week she was attacked for a clip where she was mocking herself for not knowing how to curtsey.’
‘This week we have Harry dropping some tea and suddenly, everyone has gone quiet..’
Jews Don’t Count host David, 58, was among those to point out Meghan was laughing at herself as she remembered the moment, lamenting that laughter has now become ‘weaponised.’
Meghan didn’t realise she would need to curtsy before moeetting the Queen (Picture: PA)
On Twitter, he wrote: ‘I’m extremely uninterested in the Sussex v Royal debate. But I am interested in the way that laughter has been weaponised on here and elsewhere to exclude context and nuance and become reclassified as only mockery.
‘That clip where Meghan demonstrates how she overdid her first curtsey to the Queen – that’s what she’s doing – showing how *she* overdid it – laughing at herself for getting it wrong – everyone in the orgy of bad faith saying she’s mocking The Queen/British customs knows this.’
Meghan and Harry share their personal lives in the Netflix documentary (Picture: Netflix / BACKGRID)
Meghan has previously spoken about her surprise at the custom during her bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey last year.
She said that although she realised other people meeting the monarch would curtsy, ‘I didn’t think that happened inside the family.’
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She said that Harry told her she wasn’t just his grandmother but ‘the Queen.’
Meghan said she couldn’t Google how to curtsy as they were waiting in the car, so was shown to do it outside just before going in.
Harry & Meghan is available to stream on Netflix.
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Meghan wasn’t aware she needed to curtsy.
