How Meghan flunked Britishness test
AS royal bride-to-be Meghan Markle prepares to become a British citizen, she’ll probably need to mug up on our culture.
In a recently resurfaced video of the American actress taking a quiz for cable TV channel Dave, she laughingly struggled to answer questions about Britishness.
Questions she failed ranged from naming the national animal of England to what we call a sidewalk and even whether people in the UK would prefer Marmite or Vegemite.
The tongue-in-cheek quiz was part of a promotion for her hit US legal drama Suits when she visited London in July last year – around the time she enjoyed her first blind date with Prince Harry.
While Meghan had no idea at the time that she would become his fiancee, the four-minute clip is even more hilarious given their engagement news.
Kensington Palace says 36-year-old Miss Markle is determined to embrace new life here and will apply to become a British citizen. As a foreign national, this will include sitting a multiple-choice ‘Life in the UK’ test.
But if her answers of last year are anything to go by, she and Harry may well have to spend some time frantically cramming.
She started well with the first question: ‘Which of the following are names of real ale? Hoptimus Prime, Fizzy Gravy, Fursty Ferret, Keith’s Special Flavour [‘That just sounds dirty,’ she laughed] or Butt Face.’
Her answer of Fursty Ferret was correct – ‘Come on!’ she cried – although Hoptimus Prime and Buttface were also right.
She then had to identify the real British place names out of Sandy Balls, Little Trouser, Happy Bottom and Crotch Crescent. She chose Little Trouser – which was the only fake one. ‘Fantastic,’ she laughed.
Her next question was which is better, Marmite or Vegemite? ‘Oh that’s easy, Vegemite!’ she said, sadly choosing the Australian brand. She had no idea what ‘apples and pears’ meant in Cockney rhyming slang, or that our national animals are the lion in England, the unicorn in Scotland and the dragon in Wales.
‘Are these real right now? Lions and unicorns and dragons, oh my!’ she joked in a reference to the line ‘lions and tigers and bears’ from The Wizard Of Oz.
In a quick-fire round she failed to tell her interviewer what a highway or sidewalk were in Britain. ‘Sidewalk... you don’t say sidewalk?’ she asked.
Although she knew that chips were crisps, the trash can is the bin and pants are trousers, she laughed at the end: ‘I think I lost, I think I was the worst at this game!’
‘You don’t say sidewalk?’