Prince Harry and Meghan Markle put on a largely unified front when they sat down with a TV crew to film their Netflix documentary.

However, the Duke of Sussex, 41, displayed a rare sign of disapproval after his wife appeared to make a joke about meeting his grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, for the first time.

Netflix released the incendiary Sussex tell-all about their time as senior royals in two instalments – with the first batch of episodes landing on December 8, 2022.

The docuseries, included in their $100million deal that has since been downgraded, began with the early days of their romance after their paths crossed in 2016, and covered their marriage and dramatic exit from the royal family in 2020.

While there was no shortage of harmful accusations made about senior royals, including Prince Harry’s brother Prince William, one moment in particular stood out after viewers criticised the Duchess of Sussex for mocking royal protocol.

Meghan performed a deeply exaggerated curtsey as she recounted the ‘surreal’ moment she first met the Queen while an awkward-looking Harry watched in stunned silence.

Revisiting Meghan’s ‘joke’ about the Royal Family, body language expert Judi James said it was ‘especially shocking’ in light of the revelation that the California-based Duchess is now ‘announced’ like royalty before entering a room.

However, it is also significant because it captures Harry’s ‘discomfort’ and ’embarrassment’ before he ‘musters the courage’ to openly ‘disassociate’ from his wife after she crossed the line by mentioning Her Majesty ‘disrespectfully’.

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Meghan performed a deeply exaggerated curtsey as she recounted the ‘surreal’ moment she first met the Queen while an awkward-looking Harry watched in stunned silence

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Revisiting Meghan’s ‘joke’ about the Royal Family, body language expert Judi James said it was ‘especially shocking’ in light of the revelation that the California-based Duchess is now ‘announced’ like royalty before entering a room. The Duchess of Sussex (in a beige coat) with Prince Harry (to her left) and Prince William (to her right) along with the Princess of Wales and Prince Philip (far right) and the Duke of Edinburgh (far left) on Christmas at Sandringham

The moment comes during the second episode of the six-part docuseries Harry and Meghan, as the former Suits actress opened up about what it was like to meet the Royal Family.

She began her anecdote by comparing her first encounter with Queen Elizabeth to a lowbrow themed dinner at America’s ‘Medieval Times’.

Ms James noted how Meghan held up her hand to Prince Harry in a signal of ‘exclusion’ as she prefaced the quip by saying, ‘Americans will understand this…’ before launching into the line about the tourist attraction.

The only other time she acknowledges Harry is when she shoots him an ‘immature, girlish side-eye’ at the end of her story to suggest she is being ‘childishly naughty’, Ms James pointed out.

The first time Meghan met the Queen was for lunch at Royal Lodge, shortly after her and the Duke revealed they were dating.

But she said the whole occasion felt like an antiquated banquet at Medieval Times, a family dinner theater in the US featuring staged medieval-style games, sword-fighting, and jousting.

Meghan explained that she didn’t know she would be meeting Her Majesty ‘until moments before’ when Prince Harry asked her if she knew how to curtsy.

‘Her mocking tone begins when she shares that “I just thought it was a joke…right?” to imply royal protocol is comedy rather than part of the culture of the country,’ Ms James told this newspaper.

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Netflix released the incendiary Sussex tell-all about their time as senior royals in two instalments – with the first batch of episodes landing on December 8, 2022

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The docuseries, included in their $100million deal that has since been downgraded, began with the early days of their romance after their paths crossed in 2016, and covered their marriage and dramatic exit from the royal family in 2020

Recounting the ‘intense’ moment when she came face-to-face with the late monarch, Meghan performed a deep curtsey as Harry watched on, stone-faced, before he glanced off camera looking awkward.

Meanwhile, Meghan followed her sweeping, exaggerated and comedic bow with ‘non-verbal signals of excitement’ at her ability to make the interviewer laugh.

Ms James pointed out that the mother-of-two includes a comedic voice as she goes into a high-pitched tone as she says ‘Pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty’.

This is when she appears to ‘summon the mind’s eye image of the late Queen being on the receiving end of this mimicry’, Ms James said.

This is the ‘crucial cut-off’ for Prince Harry who, until then, had tried ‘subtly’ to express his ‘disapproval’ with silent signals such as ‘a prolonged eye-to-eye stare’ – but Meghan refuses to take the hint.

‘Comedy routines like this that reference your partner’s parents or grandparents would normally entail several “invitation” or “intentional” glances from the teller to check whether you should proceed and if they plan to include themselves in the comedy performance, either verbally or non-verbally,’ Ms James said.

‘But instead, there is her exclusion hand signal to let Harry know this is going ahead with or without him.’

However, the second Meghan says ‘Your Majesty’ in a sarcastic manner, Harry ‘musters the courage to perform an act of open disassociation’ by looking down and away, according to Ms James.

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The late Queen with her grandson Harry and his wife Meghan watching a flypast to mark the centenary of the Royal Air Force from the balcony of Buckingham Palace

This is the final ‘stage’ of Harry’s response to Meghan during the scene.

While he initially adopted a facial expression similar to a ‘royal deadpan’, Harry ‘quickly and compliantly’ switches to a weak mouth smile when Meghan looks up from the bow and in his direction.

Ms James said this switch-up seems to suggest Harry is ‘wary’ about showing Meghan anything other than a ‘good audience reaction’.

Since the Sussexes signed their lucrative $100million deal with the streamer, they have released Harry & Meghan, Heart of Invictus (about Prince Harry’s Invictus Games), sports docuseries Polo, and Live to Lead.

While their tell-all became the most viewed documentary on Netflix in 2022, their other projects have failed to land the same way before their deal was downgraded to a ‘first-look’ agreement in August.

The couple signed a new ‘multi-year, first look deal for film and television projects’ with the streaming giant – understood to be worth less for the pair than their previous contract.

The ‘first-look’ arrangement means Netflix can say yes or no to new film or television projects before anyone else – allowing them to pick and choose what they invest in.

PR expert Mark Borkowski described the new deal as a ‘downgrade’, claiming it falls a long way from the jackpot figure of Harry and Meghan’s original contract in 2020.

At the time, Mr Borkowski told the Daily Mail that he believes the pair will be paid for each production selected by Netflix rather than receiving an overall fee, such as the reported $100million of their first deal.

‘I would be surprised if it’s not pay-as-you-go and it’s well, well below that first mark,’ he said.

Since their deal with Netflix was revised, Harry and Meghan’s Archewell Productions have released two new seasons of the Duchess’ cooking show, With Love, Meghan, that was branded ‘sensationally absurd and trite’ by reviewers at the time.

Her latest offering was an hour-long Christmas special, with tips and tricks for hosting over the festive season, as Meghan showed viewers how to make crackers, decorate a tree, and wrap gifts of different shapes and sizes.

Guests included tennis ace Naomi Osaka, restaurateur Will Guidara, and Top Chef star and celebrity chef Tom Colicchio – but the series received below-average and poor ratings from critics.

Giving ‘With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration’ zero stars out of five, the Daily Mail’s reviewer Annabel Fenwick Elliott said: ‘It’s the syrupy hypocrisy and our hostess’s deep lack of self-awareness that continue to make her and this show so unlikeable.

‘If only she could lean into her Type A personality – poke a little fun at herself, even – she could just about be endearing, in a Monica-from-Friends sort of way.’