Meghan Markle’s Instagram paid a surprising tribute to her daughter, Princess Lilibet, on the young royal’s 4th birthday. However, what was meant as a playful post further rubbed Markle’s most vocal critics the wrong way. In the throwback video, Markle recorded herself dancing and twerking in a black dress in the hospital room where she’d eventually give birth to her daughter.

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“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,” she wrote in her caption. Prince Harry would also join Markle during the dance number. However, the video might’ve been better off classified, as its release caused a bit of a meltdown on X, formerly known as Twitter. Many people online criticized the Duchess of Sussex for the performance. 

One commenter even felt it was yet another instance of Markle doing something you’d never catch Kate Middleton repeating. “Kate would never. She has class,” Mystic posted. The Middleton comparisons didn’t end there. Poster KitsieAnn felt she knew the Princess of Wales enough to also vouch for her class in comparison to Markle. “Several things here, you would’ve never seen anything like this out of Kate Middleton, and if they did do a dance before one of the birth of their child, I am sure it was kept under wraps,” they said. Another poster seemed to feel vindicated at the perceived proof that Markle didn’t deserve her status as a royal. “If anyone had any doubts, after watching this it is clear she was never a good fit for the royal life,” they said.

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It’s easy to see why Meghan Markle wanted to hide her baby bump from the world. She was pregnant twice, having given birth to Prince Archie in 2019 and Princess Lilibet in 2021. Although Markle’s second pregnancy was easier than her first, she dealt with heavy scrutiny and gossip both times. Some even doubted Markle was pregnant back in the day. When she posted a blurry image of herself and her baby bump on Instagram, this only fueled the rumors. On Reddit, commenters felt the rather obscure picture was proof that there was something fishy going on with her pregnancy. “Nope never pregnant. Bump looks fake,” one Reddit user wrote. Meanwhile, another commenter was convinced even more that Markle wasn’t expecting. “But I really did think she was pregnant for real. She killed that thought with this blurry image that LITERALLY looks like she has a FAKE waxen belly attached to her abdomen,” they said.

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When she was pregnant with her firstborn, she even drew criticism for the way she was seen holding her baby bump. “Yes, all that baby bump-overdoing thing is tiring,” a poster wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Why can’t she just stand normal, in particular at official occasions?” 

However, not everyone agreed with this take. Others online felt that Markle cupping her baby bump was a natural reaction and instinct that many women experienced during pregnancy. In fact, the controversy inspired comparisons of Markle and Kate Middleton again. A picture was posted on X of Middleton holding her baby bump while pregnant, practically the same way Markle did. This highlighted the possible different standards to which both royal women are held. “Yeah, how come no one said anything about Kate doing the same thing?” Jennifer Smith posted.

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