Were Jamie Laing and Sophie Habboo mocking Prince Harry and Meghan Markle with their twerking video? Royal experts discuss on PALACE CONFIDENTIAL
To celebrate 25 years of his Royal Drawing School, King Charles hosted a star-studded reception at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday.
But as the monarch spoke to the likes of George and Amal Clooney, influencers Jamie Laing and Sophie Habboo took to the Grand Staircase, originally built for Queen Victoria in 1832, to film a cheeky video.
The couple, who are expecting their first baby together, filmed themselves gyrating to The Baby Mama Dance Song by Starrkeisha on the sweeping red-carpeted and gilded staircase which leads up to the State Rooms, flanked by portraits of members of the Royal Family.
Posting to his Instagram account with 1.6million followers, Jamie captioned the cheeky clip: 'They said we couldn't film in Buckingham Palace...'
To which the Palace's official Instagram account 'theroyalfamily' replied: 'We see you' accompanied by a pair of eyes and a wink emojis.
It comes three weeks after Meghan Markle posted a similar video to her Instagram account of her twerking with her husband Prince Harr y in a delivery suite shortly before she gave birth to their daughter, Princess Lilibet, four years ago.
Jamie and Sophie's twerking in a royal residence has been considered a joke at the expense of the Sussexes by many - including the Daily Mail's Diary Editor Richard Eden.
'My suspicion is the Palace tolerated it because they were clearly having a bit of pop at Harry and Meghan,' Richard said on the latest episode of Palace Confidential.
Reacting to his comment on the hit YouTube show, Rebecca English, the Daily Mail's Royal Editor, said: 'You are so mischievous, Richard.'
'Oh come on,' Richard replied in jest. 'They clearly were.
'[Jamie and Sophie] were saying, "look, we're in a Palace like you'll never be and we're doing a little dance".'
Jo Elvin, who hosts Palace Confidential, burst into laughter at this and said: 'I think that's reaching. Did they use the same music though?'
'Yeah, they did' Richard said. 'I think they were overtaken by the exuberence and they thought, "Come on we'll have a bit of a pop. Harry and Meghan might do it in the maternity suite but we'll actually do it on the staircase at the Palace.'
Agreeing that there was some 'schadenfreude', Rebecca pointed to Jamie's comment section where one cheeky user said: 'When you get to do it at the Palace but Harry and Meghan couldn't lol.'
'And Sophie wasn't really twerking in this case,' Richard added. 'It was more of an elegant shuffle.'
'It's very hard to do when one is pregnant,' Jo said. 'It's hard to do anyway, not least of all when you're pregnant.'
Jamie Laing and Sophie Habboo film themselves dancing to Baby Mama on the grand staircase at Buckingham Palace
'She certainly wasn't kind of squatting down as we have seen in the other video,' Rebecca said.
'No, she maintained her dignity,' Richard concluded.
Since posting, Jamie and Sophie's viral video has amassed over 1.3 million views on TikTok.
Adding more background to the conversation, Rebecca revealed that she 'rung the Palace' to ask for their comment on the video - and to check that it was actually their official Buckingham Palace account that had replied.
After explaining that it wouldn't be the official account as they don't typically comment on social media, Rebecca's source phoned her back and confirmed that it was, in fact, them.
Proof that no offence was taken by the video, a palace aide told the Mail: 'I'm sure it was done in a spirit of fun, and of course aligned to Jamie's wonderful support for The King's Trust Awards - even if it's not something we would greatly encourage every guest to attempt.'
Referring to 'theroyalfamily' account's official response, they added most definitely with tongue-in-cheek: 'Proof that from time to time the Royal Family account has a sense of humour too.
'As for Jamie, may we recommend a visit to the Tower of London. Hashtag Winkyfacelolz.'
'Would whoever was running the social media account have had a stiff word from somebody?' Jo asked.
'I don't know,' Rebecca replied. 'They were a bit surprised but then they took it in their stride so hopefully not.'
The King's Trust was set up by King Charles when he was Prince of Wales in 1976 to help disadvantaged young people get back into education, work and training.
It has since gone on to help more than one million young people and is considered one of the biggest and most effective charities of its kind in the country.
Jamie, who is a supporter of its work, attended a reception at Buckingham Palace yesterday alongside the likes of George and Amal Clooney to highlight its annual awards for some of the charity's greatest success stories.
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