Meghan Markle has seemingly been caught in an awkward editing ‘fail’ after royal fans claimed a laugh track had been added in to her Bloomberg interview.
Last week, the Duchess of Sussex joined journalist Emily Chang for an interview on The Circuit to coincide with the release of the second series of her Netflix show, With Love, Meghan.
During the light-hearted chat, which took place over smashed burgers and pints of beer, Meghan discussed everything from her time in the royal family to behind-the-scenes tales of developing her lifestyle brand, As ever.
At one point, as Meghan addressed the subject of self-confidence, the two women laughed together as she admitted: ‘Age helps, I’ll be 44!’
But sharp-eared royal fans soon noted that one particularly loud bark of laughter appeared to come from neither Meghan nor Emily, leaving viewers stumped.
In the clip, Meghan was talking while Emily nodded her head politely – and it appeared impossible that the laughter could have come from either of them, leaving it with no apparent source.
Royal fans soon theorised that the sound must have been edited in – in the form of dubbing or a laugh track – or else was coming from a producer behind the camera.
One person said: ‘Who is laughing? That didn’t come from Emily Chang? Her body doesn’t move?
‘Did they dub on an extra laugh to make Meghan seem more funny? WHAT??? Perhaps she has a ventriloquist hobby on the side, because that laugh didn’t look or sound like it came from her.’
Another theorised: ‘one of the crew??’, while a third speculated: ‘The cackle was added in.’
Another agreed: ‘Definitely sounds like an intense burst of laughter dubbed in’ and ‘She’s using laugh tracks?’
One more simply noted: ‘That was so strange!!’
The Daily Mail has reached out to Bloomberg for clarification.
During the segment, Meghan told Emily: ‘I think the more comfortable you get with yourself, certainly age helps. I’ll be 44 – it’s great!
‘And I just think there is a lot of value to when you anchor into your own knowing, then you’re telling your own story. You’re telling your story and how you show up in the world, what you do.
‘You actually don’t need to say anything, you can show who you are.’
But once again viewers were left baffled by Meghan’s comments, saying she was just speaking in ‘word salad’.
Highlights from the conversation included when the Duchess described bookstores as a place ‘you can find your story there. You can find some version of your story or what feels true to you in it.’
On YouTube, one user said: ‘She speaks English, but I don’t understand what she is saying. It’s all word salad.’
Another quipped: ‘Hopefully, the reporter’s coffee is strong enough to tolerate Meghan Markle’s word salad.’
Supporters of the Duchess also took to social media to praise her answers.
Khemani commented on YouTube: ‘She’s so smart and well-spoken. Such a breath of fresh air.’
During the interview, the Duchess also appeared to take a dig at her former life in the royal fold.
Meghan was asked if there is an ‘inherent tension’ between ‘trying to be relatable’ while also being a Duchess.
Meghan responded that she is ‘just being herself’.
‘It was different several years ago where I couldn’t be as vocal and I had to wear nude pantyhose all the time!’ the Duchess said, adding it ‘felt a little bit inauthentic’.
Meghan has already touched on things she had to sacrifice in order to be a royal, such as her lifestyle blog The Tig, which she ditched in April 2017, a few months before her engagement to Harry.
She linked the decision to the immense changes that came with joining the institution.
When relaunching her lifestyle brand As Ever in February, Meghan said: ‘As Ever essentially means as it’s always been, and if you’ve followed me since 2014 with The Tig, you know I’ve always loved cooking and crafting and gardening – this is what I do.
‘And I haven’t been able to share it with you in the same way for the past few years, but now I can so, as things are starting to trickle out there, I wanted you to hear it from me first.’
When Chang quizzed Meghan about her current political stance later on in the episode, the Duchess appeared to dodge the question – admitting she hadn’t spoken about it since 2016, before she met Prince Harry.
Emily referenced Meghan’s appearance on Larry Wilmore’s The Nightly Show in 2016, in which she branded Donald Trump ‘misogynistic’ and ‘divisive’, especially with female voters.
Speaking about the video, Emily asked if there was anything Meghan was ‘dying to say right now, but you feel like you can’t’ – appearing to ask her current views on US politics.
But Meghan simply responded ‘no’, before appearing to change the subject: ‘I just make a choice of what matters to me and what’s important to me. And that was a different time in 2016.’
She also finally addressed the controversy surrounding her last name after she insisted that she’s now called ‘Meghan Sussex’.
Meghan, 44, had first declared that her last name is now ‘Sussex’ when she corrected her celebrity friend and The Office star Mindy Kaling, who had referred to her as ‘Meghan Markle’ in season one of With Love, Meghan.
Her remark caused furore on social media, as Meghan is only believed to have visited the English county once and had no official surname as a member of the royal family.
Royal fans later insisted that her name is actually Mountbatten-Windsor – of which Meghan made no mention during her interview with Emily.
When Emily asked if Sussex is ‘a last name’, Meghan admitted ‘it’s not’ – but said she, her husband Prince Harry, and children Archie, six, and Lilibet, four, use the name Sussex ‘roughly or loosely’ as their surname.
She then clarified that her official legal name is Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
She said: ‘My legal name is Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, but Sussex for us works as our family name and it’s the name we share with our children. Since I’ve been married, that’s what I’ve been called.
‘When I got married I changed my name, but it’s a complicated one for people to understand because our last name is not typical in that construct.
‘It sounds so silly to say because I went there and I’m American and then you come back and as an American you go, “I’m so confused!” But it’s a dukedom.’
When asked what she has learned about herself since ‘becoming Sussex’, Meghan insisted that she has stayed true to herself throughout.
She said: ‘What I learned about myself is that, no matter what my name is, or what people call me, I’m still the same person. That didn’t really change who I am and maybe that’s the biggest distinguishing factor.’
It comes as dismal reviews have rolled in for the second season of With Love, Meghan.
The Times branded it as ‘the sweet spot where irrelevant meets intolerable,’ while The Guardian’s review described it as ‘so boring’ and ‘so contrived.’
On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season received a 1.8 out of five stars – while the first season was rated slightly higher at 2.1.
The Daily Mail’s very own Maureen Callahan wrote that The Duchess is ‘incapable of making a joke at her own expense.’
‘The only thing authentic about her is her inauthenticity, which at this point seems pathological,’ Callahan wrote.
