Our take on Meghan twerking
The Duchess is answering the conspiracy theorists
There was a big royal story this week and it was nothing to do with the palace. To mark Lilibet’s fourth birthday, mum Meghan posted a series of photos and videos - from highlights of a two-day trip to Disneyland to her and Harry with their daughter, as a baby and now. But we’re talking about when she dropped the big one – a video of her heavily-pregnant, twerking, in the hospital delivery room.
Heavily-pregnant women twerking to the song Baby Momma/Mama by Starrkeisha, to induce labour, was a viral trend on TikTok around four years ago, as influencers recorded themselves gyrating to bring on the birth. In the video, Meghan, who was 40 weeks pregnant, gets down and twerks, as Harry, who started recording, shuffles past doing a dad dance.
“Four years ago today, this also happened. Both of our children were a week past their due dates… so when spicy food, all that walking, and acupuncture didn’t work - there was only one thing left to do,” Meghan posted. Predictably, the world collectively lost its mind. “You can’t call yourself a Duchess then broadcast that video to the world,” thundered The Telegraph. So, what do we think? Kerry has her say, here:
Would I have recorded and posted this? No. Should Meghan have recorded and posted it? Probably not - but it’s her call.
I was overdue with my first child, too, but filming myself twerking, was not front of my mind, in that delivery room in Sydney. Panicking, I’d say, was more accurate. But is it for us to get all outraged about Meghan and Harry doing so? Of course not.
If you want to try the trick to induce labour, or have a laugh in the delivery room, it’s understandable. Recording it? A bit self-indulgent. Posting it to social media? Next level showbiz. But if Meghan and Harry enjoy that sort of thing, they’re hardly unusual, after all, it was a viral trend, so there were plenty of other people doing it. So while it’s self-indulgent and certainly not very sophisticated, I defend their right to do it and post it.
However, there’s another layer to this cheese-fest. As soon as I saw it, I knew why Meghan posted it – to take on the conspiracy nuts who continue to assert she has never been pregnant and wore a moonbump while Archie and Lilibet were “born by surrogates.” Note: There is no basis to these ridiculous allegations.
This absurd narrative has been going on for years and Twitter/X is littered with a stream of “evidence”. So, this movie, filmed in the delivery room, plus the photos of Lilibet, who up until now, Harry and Meghan have taken pains to keep out of the spotlight, are without doubt, to take on the trolls.
Sadly for Meghan, it’s made the conspiracy theorists worse. They have “analysed” the video and questioned the bumpy outline of her belly (most likely heart-rate monitors) and state she “didn’t put on any weight” other than her bump (Meghan said on her podcast she gained 65lb and images of her post-birth back this up, unless everyone has amnesia).
It’s hard, trying to rise above rumours, but shut them down at the same time. Remember, the Princess of Wales had to make a video when she was ill, to address the out of control trolling over her disappearance, which she had to reveal was due to cancer. So I think Meghan has tried something similar. Will it work? Sadly, probably not.”
William and Sophie love a tipple
We love it when William teams up with his Aunt Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, they always look like they’re having a good old laugh. Their Friday trip to the Royal Cornwall Show saw them sampling local tipples at the event, and true to form proving to be a glorious double act.
Arriving at the show in Wadebridge, the pair soon found themselves at a gin stand and presented with small cups of Saint Sithney Cornish gin. “Delicious, very light,” William then teased the Duchess, “You’re not allowed to finish it! Watch her!”
She quipped, “Just learning from the best.” William confessed: “I’ve been caught out with whisky a few too many times. I’m like, ‘I can do that’, and then I’m like, ‘Oh my God’.” The royals then moved on to a cider stall, where William revealed his love of scrumpy cider, adding: “I was a big fan a long time ago. Everyone remembers scrumpy.”
The Prince was at the show, a celebration of Cornish heritage, innovation and farming, for the first time as the Duke of Cornwall. William said he was “honoured to present The Duchy of Cornwall Award and meet those driving sustainable agriculture across the region’. Not forgetting the splendid scrumpy!
Camilla’s blooming lovely week
It’s June which means here in Britain we’re enjoying a typical British summer - wet and windy! Not that the weather could knock Camilla - our trooper Queen - off her stride. On Wednesday, to mark the Big Lunch, of which she is patron, and taking place this weekend, the Queen attended a rather chilly and blowy al fresco lunch date at London’s Canary Wharf.
Our favourite moment was Camilla shaking hands with two “moss people”, representing biodiversity sculptures, and chuckling: “Can you see out of them?” The two figures, covered head to toe in leaves, shook their heads. During the event, Camilla announced the winner of The Big Lunch Recipe Search. Congratulations to Melanie Booth and her butternut squash empanadas!
Earlier that day, Camilla was at one of her “favourite places” - the Lambeth’s Garden Museum to celebrate British Flowers Week. “I always come back here like a homing pigeon,” she said. “I couldn’t miss out on any of these exhibitions and I have said to my husband, and I’ve talked to the office and I very much hope to become the joint patron, because… it is one of my favourite places in the world and it never ceases to surprise me all the wonderful exhibitions that you do, so I will be back.”
Awesome Anne styles it up in Barbados
Princess Anne headed to Barbados this week, to attend the Duke of Edinburgh's Commonwealth Study Conferences and special events. She met with the President of Barbados, Dame Sandra Mason, and Prime Minister, Mia Mottley. As usual, the 74-year-old took a practical approach and dug out her go-to hot-climate suit, a cream pin-striped trouser suit she wore in Sri Lanka in 2024 and Papua New Guinea in 2022. Paired with 70s-style shirts, it looks to us as if Anne has been rocking this suit for decades and oh, how we love her for that. On Friday, she was back in business at Buckingham Palace, convening a meeting of her patronages and charities ahead of her 75th birthday.
Back of the net, it’s Sir David Beckham!
We’re delighted with the news that England’s footballing legend will be knighted in the King’s birthday honours list this week. David’s a lifelong royalist, famously queuing for up to 13 hours to pay his respects to Queen Elizabeth and growing close to Charles over their passions for gardening and beekeeping (he is now an official ambassador for the King’s Foundation).
While it’s no secret he’s been in line for a knighthood for more than a decade, he’s devoted his years after retiring from football to building up an impressive portfolio of charity work. Sir David and Lady Victoria Beckham, we salute you!