Meghan Markle courted a lot of attention from her recent social media video showing her and husband Prince Harry twerking as they awaited the arrival of their daughter Lilibet in 2021, posted to celebrate the youngest royal’s fourth birthday last week. As ever, the 43-year-old’s upload courted controversy – with some cruel trolls even falsely claiming the video ‘proves’ that Meghan wasn’t pregnant and that her and 40-year-old husband Prince Harry’s second child was born via surrogate.

And while you’d imagine that the comments would upset the former Suits actress, a source tells Closer that the attention she has garnered from the video has actually made her happy.

The source says, ‘Meghan’s thrilled with all the attention this is getting them, she doesn’t care that the usual suspects have been bashing her for it because she’s used to them finding fault with her no matter what, it’s water off a duck’s back for her at this point. Instead, she’s putting her attention on all the views and shares she’s getting. She’s been obsessively checking her social numbers and gushing to friends that she’s finally cracked the algorithm.’

Following the backlash to the video, it was reported that Meghan was ‘very pleased’ with the response as while the UK’s reaction was ‘a bit prudish’, it had been ‘a huge hit’ in the US and ‘especially with young people.’

Naysayers took to social media following the upload to slam Meghan and her video, with one speculating on X, ‘Meghan Markle dancing at nine months pregnant with zero backward lean, no mass lag, no swelling, and a bump that moves like foam. Biology doesn’t bend for PR. Either she’s superhuman… or something doesn’t add up.’ A second added, ‘I do not believe for one second believe this video is real. Who the heck dances like that when readying to labour? No one. The bump is misshapen and she still doesn’t look pregnant.’

However, Lesley Bland, consultant midwife at My Expert Midwife publicly defended Meghan, explaining that the lumps on her baby bump could have been the ‘baby’s limbs protruding,’ and that ‘a woman who exercises regularly and is familiar with the correct way to squat can often still complete low squats during labour.’

And our source says there’ll be plenty more to come from the dancing Duchess’ new venture, ‘The twerking video wasn’t a one-off, she wants to do more fun dance reels, and she’s roped Harry in as her reluctant co-star. She loves that this is so different from the stiff upper lip royal image and keeps saying this is a way for them to reclaim their narrative. Meghan’s decided that sharing fun moments they have with their kids is perfectly acceptable too, she’s proud of the way she and Harry parent and wants to show it off.’

Meghan and Harry have gone against the royal norm of showing their children’s faces publicly, with them only sharing six-year-old son Archie’s face on a handful of occasions, including his christening. The last time we officially saw Archie’s face fully unobscured was when Meghan up shared a video reading a book to him on his first birthday. Since then, we have only seen his face partially in social media photos and the Sussex’s 2021 Christmas card. We didn’t see a photo of Lilibet’s face at all until a portrait was shared to mark her first birthday in June 2022. Since then, we have only seen her from behind or with an emoji covering her face in social media. A photo of Harry lovingly looking own at her with her face exposed was posted to celebrate her birthday earlier this month, but it was an old baby picture.

Our source says that while Harry was included in the new twerking video and is sure to appear in future post to please his wife – he’s not overly happy about becoming a social media star, explaining, ‘Harry’s going along with it, but let’s be honest, he’s got to be cringing inside. This is so not his style, but Meghan’s on a mission and there’s no stopping her. She wants to become a force in the industry again and anyone in Hollywood knows that in this day and age you need a social media presence with a ton of followers to get any respect. And it’s not just followers that are measured, engagement is crucial too so she can’t just throw up pictures of her products, she has to follow trends and get people sharing her stuff.

‘What works right now is being “real” and “unfiltered” so it’s not a big shock that Meghan is going in that direction, even if it’s all still heavily curated. She keeps saying this is the future, and that they’re reinventing themselves as this fun, relatable couple. Harry just nods and goes with it because he’s always supportive of her, but it’s definitely not his vibe.

‘He’s way more comfortable behind the scenes or doing his charity work, not shaking his hips for clicks. But Meghan’s convinced this is the way to win back the public. She’s already mapped out more dance content, silly couple challenges, even day in the life stuff with the kids and she sees it all as part of a bigger strategy to show a lighter side of their life. It’s not about dignity or protocol anymore, it’s about engagement and visibility, and she’s fully leaned in.

‘The twerking video was just the start, she wants to give her fans a more intimate look at their lives and is convinced it will pay off, not just with sales of her products but with brand deals too. She’s not going to go full Kardashian and share every detail of her life but she’s getting advice from top social media strategists, and everyone has told her the only way to make it a success is to open up more, so that’s what she’s doing and she’s bringing Harry along with her.’