Prince Harry was booed by the crowd at a rugby match on Friday when his face appeared on the big screen, in what has been described as arguably his worst humiliation yet.
While a scrum was being arranged, a shot of the section of those watching on was shown. TNT Sports commentator Nick Mullins said: “A face in the crowd. Prince Harry, back home and enjoying some rugby again. They don't have nights like this in California.”
People at the match then saw him and sounded as though they were not happy to see the King’s second son. “One or two boos around Mattioli Woods Welford Road,” Mullins said. Former England player Ugo Monye added: “Welcome home.”
Commentators note the reaction
Mullins also said a short while later: “Well, that wasn't overly welcoming, was it?” Monye replied: “No, it wasn't.” Mullins added: “Maybe they think he is a Gloucester supporter.”
Team Sussex has suggested that the crowd was actually booing the referee. This is a stretch, according to Express reporter Adam Toms, who has attended many football games and says a crowd booing a referee sounds very different to the sound heard when Harry appears on the screen.
Witness disputes referee booing claim
An X user who says they were actually at the game wrote on the social media platform that the referee “was not booed” and was giving a scrum for Leicester Tigers — the home team. They asked: “Why would Tigers be booing their own scrum?”
“The boos begin as Harry is shown on screen”, the user added.
Wider polling shows negative view
The incident reflects wider polling from YouGov, which said 58% view Harry in a negative light. It of course does not help that this was a rugby game. Catherine, the Princess of Wales, is royal patron of the Rugby Football Union, and so many present I suspect would sympathise with the Waleses, who, like the rest of the Royal Family, were blasted with artillery by Harry and Meghan while they lived in California.
Britons clearly think the Sussexes are in the wrong and threw their toys out of their pram when they quit as working royals in 2020. Now they are back in Blighty and do not seem to be growing on the British public.
Maybe this latest development will act as some sort of wake-up call for them that they at least need to admit they were in the wrong and apologise for their conduct. I suspect though that they will not see it this way and, like other sports fans, continue to blame the ref when things go wrong.
