Prince Harry described how his interactions with Prince William, King Charles III and other royals “felt cold” during his final royal engagement in a clip that has gone viral on TikTok.
Harry and Meghan Markle announced they were quitting the palace in January 2020 and performed their final visit as working royals at Commonwealth Day, at Westminster Abbey, in London, in March that year.
And he looked back on the dramatic moment in an interview for his documentary Harry & Meghan, which dropped on Netflix in December 2022.
A clip of him discussing the experience went newly viral on TikTok with 270,000 views and almost 7,000 likes after it was posted with the caption: “Prince Harry and Meghan talk about the coldness they received from the family on their last engagement at Commonwealth Day 2020.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive to attend the annual Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey, in London, England, on March 9, 2020. Harry later described feeling “nervous” about seeing family, including Prince William, Princess Kate, and King Charles [inset].
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
The footage begins with Meghan saying: “The first time we saw the other members of the family in public was at Westminster Abbey.”
“We were nervous seeing the family,” Harry continued. “Because all the TV cameras and everyone watching at home and everybody watching in the audience… it’s like living through a soap opera where everybody else views you as entertainment.
“I felt really distant from the rest of my family which was interesting because so much of how they operate is about what it looks like rather than what it feels like. And it looked cold. But it also felt cold.”
Commentators have since remarked on Harry’s expression and the body language between the royals.
Robert Lacey’s 2020 book Battle of Brothers read: “Observers also noted that Harry’s face was ‘quite tense and unsmiling’—and that when William sat down close to him, he barely greeted his brother.
“Throughout the service, Meghan megawatted away with her best TV smile but, as the ceremony progressed, Harry appeared to grow gloomier.
“According to one observer, ‘his accelerated blinking even suggested he might have been fighting back tears.'”
The TikTok clip ended with a quote from Harry about a different—but also significant—moment in the royal rift, following a physical fight in which William bundled Harry onto the floor, breaking the dog bowl.
Following the altercation, the private office at Kensington Palace was split with Harry and Meghan moving out to start a new office at Buckingham Palace.
“Reaction was about as expected,” Harry wrote. “The public groaned, journalists brayed. The more disheartening response was from my family. Silence.
“They never commented publicly, never said anything privately to me. I never heard from Pa, never heard from Granny. It made me think, really think, about the silence that surrounded everything else that happened to me and Meg.
“Was it all fake? Was it all just a show? Because if we couldn’t stand up for one another, rally around our newest member, our first biracial member, then what were we really?
“Was that a true constitutional monarchy? Was that a real family? Isn’t ‘defending each other’ the first rule of every family?”
Jack Royston is Newsweek‘s chief royal correspondent based in London. You can find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek‘s The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We’d love to hear from you.
