Prince Harry suffered a brutal humiliation when he joined a host of celebrities at a major outing in Hollywood, commentators have said. The Duke of Sussex was spotted among a crowd watching the New York Knicks basketball team win their first NBA Championship in over 50 years.
Stars including Sydney Sweeney, Ben Stiller and Timothée Chalamet also attended game five of the final series, which saw the Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs 94-90. Harry sat beside NBA commissioner Adam Silver and US Army veteran and Purple Heart recipient JP Lane.
But the royal was sitting eight rows back from the court, leading Daily Expresso podcast host JJ Anisiobi and guest Mark Dolan to suggest this was a sign of his status in the US now.
Commentators React to Prince Harry's Seating
JJ said: "Harry was there, but Harry was relegated not to the second row - he wasn't courtside, he wasn't second, he wasn't third, he wasn't fourth, he wasn't fifth, he wasn't sixth. He was back on the eighth row."
"Now, when you have royalty coming to any game, you give them the VIP treatment. If [Prince] William had been there, he'd have been put courtside all day long," the host added.
The Daily Expresso host continued: "Harry, he looked like a schmo in that place. He had his little trucker cap on, and he was pointing and waving to people, but there were Hollywood stars of yesteryear, like Spike Lee, who were three rows ahead of him."
"I found it embarrassing, and I like Harry, but I thought, that is your status now, sir. You're in America, nobody cares about you anymore, Harry," JJ concluded.
To which Dolan replied: "And this is a big problem - that the couple are losing the US audience, which is really their only hope."
Polling Shows Declining Popularity
Current polling by YouGov US shows that only 37% of Americans surveyed have a positive opinion of Harry, and 28% dislike him. This slips to 29% of US respondents saying they favoured Meghan, with 27% disliking her, according to the YouGov US polling.
The pollster's ratings could suggest both Harry and Meghan have been struggling to reconnect with Americans despite their efforts to rebrand themselves. Since retreating from their constant criticism of the Royal Family, Meghan and Harry have been pursuing different paths, with the Duchess seeming to adopt a more maternal, homely image and the Duke focusing more on philanthropy.
Meghan has been promoting brands from her As Ever line and appeared in Geneva earlier this year to deliver a speech about social media harms. Harry was in Ukraine, where he spoke at a security forum and joined a team clearing landmines from the war-torn country. He has also spoken out against antisemitism in the UK.
Both Sussexes were also in Australia for four days in April when they championed a number of causes close to their hearts, including mental health and veterans. The trip was not without controversy over Meghan's fee to appear at a glitzy, women-only weekend retreat and backlash over the suggestion Australian taxpayers would have to fork out for their security.
A spokesperson for the Sussexes said at the time that a small number of private engagements were carried out in order to support their wider commercial, community and charity work.
