Prince Harry 'red with anger' over Meghan Markle's story of meeting late Queen

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have certainly divided the public since quitting royal life in 2020, but perhaps one of their most controversial moments came following the release of their Netflix docuseries in 2022.

In the second episode of the show titled Harry & Meghan, the duchess recalled her first meeting with the late Queen, which took place shortly after she started dating the prince in 2016.

Meghan said that she wasn't prepared for her introduction to the British monarch and said didn't know she was going to be meeting the Queen until just "moments before".

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

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Meghan recalled that while they were on their way to meet the Queen, Prince Harry asked her if she knew how to curtsy. "We were in the car, driving and he's like: 'You know how to curtsy right?' and I just thought it was a joke," the duchess admitted.

Prince Harry then acknowledged the difficulty of explaining the royal protocol to his American girlfriend, telling the camera: "How do you explain that to people? How do you explain that you bow to your grandmother? And that you would need to curtsy, especially to an American. That's weird."

Meghan then reflected on her realisation that she would need to curtsy to the Queen, comparing the protocol to 'Medieval Times, Dinner and Tournament' - an American dinner theatre featuring staged medieval-style games such as jousting.

Then, while sitting next to Harry on the coach, Meghan performed a theatrical deep curtsy, bowing her head dramatically and spreading her arms wife.

"It was like that. Like, I curtsied as though I was like…" Meghan continued as she continued her impression. "Pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty."

The moment did not sit well with some viewers, who believed saw Meghan's actions as disrespectful. And according to one body language expert, Harry was less than impressed too.

Noting the Duke's seeming discomfort, Jesús Enrique Rosas said at the time: "The first part of Harry's reaction tells me that he knew what was coming. He is serious even if Meghan is speaking quickly, joyfully but there's no connection, no empathy in him. He is serious and maybe even angry, notice what happens with his throat, he is swallowing at that moment."

The expert also outlined Prince Harry's "contempt" at Meghan's comments, noting that his face flushed as she performed the exaggerated bow. "He is looking at Meghan and he displays contempt. A split second after that, he looks away and presses his jaw," the body language expert explained.

"You can see the patches of red on his face are much redder – the cheeks, the bridge of the nose, the temples – it could be that he feels ashamed or angry.

"I'm going to tell you why this is covert anger and not [Harry being] ashamed. If he was ashamed, he would have smiled a bit more, or [had] a nervous laughter.

"But he knew what was coming and he couldn't stand it - that he had that face at the beginning and had that subtle swallow right before Meghan did the curtsy."