Don’t bash Meghan for twerking – I did something worse while pregnant

The famously private Duchess of Sussex has posted a four-year-old video of herself twerking in a hospital delivery suite in the hope of inducing the birth of her daughter, Princess Lilibet.

The clip, which was shared on Instagram to mark Lilibet’s birthday this week, shows the then heavily pregnant duchess in 2021 gyrating seductively and dropping low in squat-like positions to the viral hit “The Baby Momma Dance” next to a hospital bed, while Prince Harry, dressed in a hoodie, does some dad-dancing.

“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 the caption, followed by a laughter emoji.

It’s no surprise that the labour twerking video has left many speechless. It has been criticised as “embarrassing”, ”cringe”, “bizarre”, “vulgar”, making a mockery of her privacy pleas – and “un-royal”.

Don’t bash Meghan for twerking during labour, though – I did far worse during mine.

I stuffed down the woody core of pineapples, bouncing around on a birthing ball, and – far more embarrassing – tried to jump off my hospital trolley as I was being wheeled into my elected C-section because I didn’t feel ready.

“But you’ve had nine months to prepare,” a nurse told me as the team of doctors in green scrubs looked at me in horror. I was having second thoughts – and they were under too much pressure, dealing with a conveyor belt of C-sections, to listen to them.

It’s not like I hadn’t seriously thought about having a second sibling for Lola, then two, but it’s often not until you actually go in to have a baby, that the reality hits like a ton of bricks.

The idea of having a second child on my own suddenly felt overwhelming. How was I going to cope? I hadn’t processed my feelings properly – and wanted to run away from the birth.

It had all seemed such a great idea when I flew to Russia to get Liberty implanted, then an embryo on ice, after I’d continued IVF after my partner died, using his banked sperm. But in all honesty, I just wanted to go home and forget all about it.

I had a panic attack, and a very nice doctor injected a drug into a cannula that he said would make me feel amazing. It worked – and I never looked back from my meltdown. I love being a single mum to my two daughters, now aged nine and seven.

Scorning women for doing whatever helps at their most vulnerable moments isn’t a great look – even if it’s getting cold feet about having a baby. The reality is some women are out there tweaking their nipples and having sex all day to release the hormone oxytocin, which plays a key role in stimulating contractions. They are also eating high-grade spicy curries to get the baby out, necking laughing gas, and doing woo-woo things like holding crystals.

The twerking video came after the duchess posted two photographs of Lilibet to celebrate her birthday – one showing her holding her daughter close on what appeared to be a boat, and another of Harry holding her as a newborn.

There is no doubt, however, that her sharing intimate hospital footage with millions of Instagram followers goes against the couple’s demands for privacy and security.

They have tended to keep Archie and Lilibet out of the spotlight – but things have changed since the launch of her Netflix series, With Love, Meghan, with them appearing more frequently on Meghan’s social media.

While in her eyes, the twerking video might help to connect her to audiences in a more human and relatable way, she may come to regret posting it.

It’s such a Hollywood thing to do and reeks of desperation for good publicity. The trouble is, there’s no way of taking it back. She’s out there – loud and clear. Flogging her jam is one thing, but surely further bringing down the reputation and the public image of the monarchy by twerking is a step too far. Looks like the royal reunion won’t be happening any time soon.