Featured Image Credit: Joe Scarnici/MLB Photos via Getty Images
Topics: Royal Family, Prince Harry, US News, Sport, Meghan Markle
Rhiannon Ingle
Topics: Royal Family, Prince Harry, US News, Sport, Meghan Markle
Prince Harry has issued an apology amidst backlash over his choice of headwear at a baseball game last month (28 October).
The Duke of Sussex and his wife, Meghan Markle, took in Game 4 of the World Series from highly coveted front-row seats reportedly worth tens of thousands of dollars, watching as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 6–2.
Eagle-eyed Dodgers fans quickly noticed that some of Los Angeles’s most iconic figures - including team co-owner Magic Johnson and Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax - were seated just behind the royal couple, prompting surprise among longtime supporters.
Critics were soon up in arms on social media as well, expressing outrage that Harry chose to wear an LA Dodgers cap rather than showing support for the victorious Blue Jays.
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"Harry should be cheering for Canada, a Commonwealth Country!" declared one Instagram user.
A second jabbed: "Not shocked with Meghan but disappointed with Harry .. should be cheering on the Commonwealth country."
And a final critic echoed: "Considering their family represents the Commonwealth and Canada is part of that, they should have been wearing Jays hats."
Many others, however, clearly took no issue with the merch choice - given that Harry stepped down as a working senior royal back in 2020 and therefore no longer technically represents the Commonwealth.
"Harry lives in California. Married to a local. Father to locals. This is silly. Lol," pointed out one fan, while another praised: "Harry's just living his best life and I'm here for it!"
A third lamented: "You notice how many people are so damn negative. It’s as if they personally know them. When I know they do not."
Since then, Harry has directly addressed the discourse in an interview with CTV News on Thursday (6 November).
"Is there anything you would like to say about wearing that LA Dodgers hat last week and getting into hot water?" Harry was asked, to which he replied: "Oh, the L.A. Dodgers hat - hatgate. Well, firstly, I would like to apologise to Canada for wearing it."
"Secondly, I was under duress," he continued. "There wasn't much choice. I was invited to the LA Dodgers box or the dugout by the owner himself. So, I was doing what I thought was the polite thing to do."
To really hammer the point on which team he was truly rooting for, Harry donned a Blue Jays hat during the interview.
"I'm going to wear this from now on to make sure I don't make any more of those mistakes," he said, before joking: "When you're missing a lot of hair on top and you're sitting under flood lights, you'll take any hat that's available."
The father-of-two went on to say that for the rest of the World Series, he was 'Blue Jays throughout'.