By MARK HOOKHAM, ASSISTANT EDITOR (INVESTIGATIONS)
Released: 17:49 EDT, 10 October 2026 | Upgraded: 23:32 EDT, 10 October 2026
It was most likely not the reception Prince Harry imagined when he prepared his significant go back to the UK.
As the Duke of Sussex enjoyed the Premiership match in between Leicester Tigers and Gloucester on Friday night, the apparent noise of booing from fellow rugby fans rippled around Leicester’s Welford Road arena as he appeared on a cinema.
It sufficed for television analyst Nick Mullins to quip: ‘Well, that wasn’t extremely inviting, was it?’
Possibly naturally, the duke’s faithful ‘Sussex Squad’ advocates declared online this weekend that it was the referee– and not Harry– who was the topic of the crowd’s jeers.
Harry’s presence at the match, which was won by the Tigers, was among a handful of his solo public getaways considering that he, his spouse Meghan and their kids Archie and Lilibet went back to the UK in August.
The duke, 42, beinged in the stands with his cousin George McCorquodale, each consuming a pint of beer as they saw the match. They were accompanied by Andrea Pinchen, the Tigers’ president.
With 26 minutes gone of the very first half, the duke and Mr McCorquodale were revealed on the cinema at the Clubhouse End of the ground.
‘Ah, face in the crowd,’ stated TNT Sports analyst Mullins. ‘Prince Harry, back home and delighting in some rugby once again. They do not have nights like this in California.’
As the Duke of Sussex saw the Premiership match in between Leicester Tigers and Gloucester, the apparent noise of booing from fellow rugby fans rippled around the arena
Television analyst Nick Mullins quipped: ‘Well, that wasn’t excessively inviting, was it?’
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Seconds later on, nevertheless, boos might be spoken with amongst the crowd of around 18,000 viewers.
‘One or 2 boos around Mattioli Woods Welford Road,’ Mullins stated.
Former England winger and expert Ugo Monye wryly included: ‘Welcome home!’
Fellow expert and previous Wales captain Sam Warburton then joked that the crowd might be mocking Monye, a previous Harlequins gamer, before Mullins referred once again to the duke’s reception.
‘Well, that wasn’t excessively inviting, was it?’ he stated.
‘No, it wasn’t,’ Monye responded, before Mullins quipped: ‘Maybe they believe he is a Gloucester fan.’
Online advocates of the Sussexes firmly insisted the booing originated from Gloucester fans dissatisfied at referee Karl Dickson for granting the home side a scrum.
‘That’s a lie,’ composed one. ‘They were booing referee’s choice and after that the video camera cut to Harry.’
Another composed: ‘They were booing the referee’s choice. Not Harry.’
A good friend of the duke last night informed the MoS: ‘It’s been provided as the crowd booing him and that’s what the press have actually chosen.
‘Doesn’t matter that they were really booing the ref’s call to award the scrum to Leicester following a supposed knock-on from Gloucester.’
A cautious analysis of video, which was transmitted live, makes such a description implausible.
The referee granted the scrum to Leicester after 26 minutes and 38 seconds. The booing did not begin till 26 minutes and 54 seconds– 16 seconds later on.
The boy of Princess Diana’s older sibling Lady Sarah, George McCorquodale, 41, resides in Lincolnshire and is understood to be near to Harry. The duke was visitor of honour at Mr McCorquodale’s wedding event to Bianca Moore in South Africa in 2016.
An enthusiastic rugby fan, Harry was customer of the Rugby Football Union from 2016 up until 2021.
His night out comes in the middle of a series of public getaways by the Sussexes in current weeks.
The couple were photographed previously this month having lunch at Cotswolds bar The Falkland Arms.
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