Formal royal curtsies offered by Princess Kate and her daughter, Princess Charlotte, have become the subject of a new viral video, winning praise from fans on TikTok.
Kate and Charlotte have been spotted offering the reverential gesture on multiple occasions in recent years, taking on increased attention from fans. A curtsy is a traditional marker of respect, offered to the king and queen twice each day by female members of the royal family, once when greeting, and again when saying goodbye.
A curtsy takes the form of a brief bend of the knee and bowing of the head. The gesture took on increased public recognition in December 2022, after Meghan Markle ignited a curtsy controversy when she performed an exaggerated reenactment of her first attempt when meeting Queen Elizabeth II for the first time. The duchess' performance earned her criticism from some social-media users and commentators who accused her of appearing to mock the tradition.
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Uploaded to TikTok by user @royaltyluvs on April 5, a new compilation video has compared the curtsies of Kate and Charlotte, which have been offered to Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles III and Queen Camilla in recent years.
Several clips included in the video were captured during the royals' Christmas Day church appearance on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, England. Senior members of the royal family, including the sovereign, attend the service each year and take part in a brief walkabout to meet well-wishers who gather to see them.
In the later years of Queen Elizabeth's life, she would travel to and from the church by car. As this pulled away, both Kate and Charlotte were spotted offering curtsies, along with other female members of the royal family, such as Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
Several curtsies were on public display during the coronation weekend in May 2023 celebrating King Charles and Queen Camilla. Footage included in the viral clip shows Charlotte's curtsy to her grandfather during the coronation concert. It was the first of its kind and was held in the grounds of Windsor Castle, Berkshire, a day after the crowning ceremony.
In official footage captured at the concert, the princess, dressed in a white with a black bow, was seen offering a deep version of a curtsy as King Charles passed her to take his seat.
The TikTok post has received in excess of 166,000 views and over 12,000 likes so far, as well as numerous comments, many of which have praised the royals.
"Iconic mother-daughter duo," wrote one user. "Charlotte has a great example in her mother. They're great."
"Princess Catherine is an example of devotion to royalty and tradition," posted another, with a further comment reading: "Charlotte is cute."
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 royals@newsweek.com. 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.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
