That’s not much of a welcome, commentator says as rugby fans boo Harry

DAILYMAIL.COM • 5h ago

By MARK HOOKHAM, ASSISTANT EDITOR (INVESTIGATIONS) 22:49 10 Oct 2026, updated 00:28 11 Oct 2026

It was probably not the reception Prince Harry envisaged when he planned his dramatic return to the UK.

As the Duke of Sussex watched the Premiership match between Leicester Tigers and Gloucester on Friday night, the unmistakable sound of booing from fellow rugby fans rippled around Leicester’s Welford Road stadium as he appeared on a big screen.

It was enough for TV commentator Nick Mullins to quip: ‘Well, that wasn’t overly welcoming, was it?’

Perhaps predictably, the duke’s loyal ‘Sussex Squad’ supporters claimed online this weekend that it was the referee – and not Harry – who was the subject of the crowd’s jeers.

Harry’s attendance at the match, which was won by the Tigers, was one of a handful of his solo public outings since he, his wife Meghan and their children Archie and Lilibet returned to the UK in August.

The duke, 42, sat in the stands with his cousin George McCorquodale, each drinking a pint of beer as they watched the match. They were accompanied by Andrea Pinchen, the Tigers’ chief executive.

With 26 minutes gone of the first half, the duke and Mr McCorquodale were shown on the big screen at the Clubhouse End of the ground.

‘Ah, face in the crowd,’ said TNT Sports commentator Mullins. ‘Prince Harry, back home and enjoying some rugby again. They don’t have nights like this in California.’

Seconds later, however, boos could be heard from among the crowd of around 18,000 spectators.

‘One or two boos around Mattioli Woods Welford Road,’ Mullins said.

Former England winger and pundit Ugo Monye wryly added: ‘Welcome home!’

Fellow pundit and former Wales captain Sam Warburton then joked that the crowd could be jeering Monye, a former Harlequins player, before Mullins referred again to the duke’s reception.

‘Well, that wasn’t overly welcoming, was it?’ he said.

‘No, it wasn’t,’ Monye replied, before Mullins quipped: ‘Maybe they think he is a Gloucester supporter.’

Online supporters of the Sussexes insisted the booing came from Gloucester fans unhappy at referee Karl Dickson for awarding the home side a scrum.

‘That’s a lie,’ wrote one. ‘They were booing [the] referee’s decision and then the camera cut to Harry.’

Another wrote: ‘They were booing the referee’s decision. Not Harry.’

Meanwhile, a friend of the duke last night told the MoS: ‘It’s been presented as the crowd booing him and that’s what the press have decided.

‘Doesn’t matter that they were actually booing the ref’s call to award the scrum to Leicester following an alleged knock-on from Gloucester.’

But a careful analysis of footage, which was broadcast live, makes such an explanation implausible.

The referee awarded the scrum to Leicester after 26 minutes and 38 seconds. The booing did not start until 26 minutes and 54 seconds – 16 seconds later.

The son of Princess Diana’s older sister Lady Sarah, George McCorquodale, 41, lives in Lincolnshire and is known to be close to Harry. The duke was guest of honour at Mr McCorquodale’s wedding to Bianca Moore in South Africa in 2016.

A passionate rugby fan, Harry was patron of the Rugby Football Union from 2016 until 2021.

His night out comes amid a series of public outings by the Sussexes in recent weeks.

The couple were photographed earlier this month having lunch at Cotswolds pub The Falkland Arms.

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