Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were party to an awkward shared moment recently after the celebrating a win at the Santa Barbara Polo Club, which one royal commentator called “cringe-worthy” and accused Meghan of trying to “worm her way” in to Harry’s spotlight.
‘Awkward Moment’ For Harry & Meghan Came After Polo Club Win
The encounter came after Prince Harry’s polo team in Santa Barbara won a prestigious trophy, and both the Prince and the polo club teammates were invited on stage to accept the trophy and take celebratory pictures. In video of the event from Sky News Australia, Meghan is seen awkwardly standing in the middle of the proceedings while husband Harry and his teammates pose for pictures around her, at one point blocking her mostly from view (despite being in the middle foreground) with their arms as they hoisted their silver trophy over her head.
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It seemed even to Meghan that she was caught in a situation she wasn't meant to be in—we aren't privy to what led up to the moment; there is the possibility that Meghan was told to go on stage for an expected press photo call and accidentally got involved in the big trophy-hoisting moment. However, royal commentators have been characteristically brutal about the Duchess of Sussex taking some of the spotlight away from the Polo Club and Duke of Sussex himself.
Royal Commentator Says Awkward Moment Extremely Embarrassing For 'Image-Conscious' Harry & Meghan
Sky News Australia interviewed royal commentator Kara Kennedy for her take on the situation, and Kennedy placed the blame square on her belief that Meghan was trying to "worm her way" into Harry's golden moment. "This had nothing to do with her, it's obviously very awkward that she very clearly wasn't meant to be on stage, this hadn't been rehearsed...this wasn't a PR opportunity of any kind, but she obviously sees it as one," Kennedy remarked on the news segment.
It was also speculated that Meghan was more interested in being a part of this "PR opportunity" rather than the negative press the couple had been receiving of late due to its celebratory nature. "Meghan knew the fallout from Harry's memoir [Spare] was going to be embarrassing for her, and going to be kind of bad image-wise, so she stayed away for that kind of PR crusade—whereas stuff like this, where he is trying to get his own thing...and she just can't help but crowbar her way into the photo, you know?" speculated Kennedy.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have struggled with negative opinions in the media practically as long as they've been together, but certainly lately—the pair's Spotify deal was notoriously seen to have "flopped," and the Prince recently attended his father King Charles III's coronation in early May with neither his wife Meghan nor children Archie and Lilibet in tow. Relationships between the couple and the royal family are said to currently be extremely strained.
