Awkward Prince Harry Moments That Were Captured By Millions
Prince Harry has had some seriously awkward moments that were captured by millions of people. Born in 1984 to Prince Charles and Princess Diana, Prince Harry grew up with the Queen of England as a grandmother, which couldn't have been easy. The young boy was subjected to royal etiquette rules from the moment he came into the world. Then as Prince Harry got a little older, he started to misbehave. Ever since his problematic teenage years, Prince Harry has been known as something of a royal "bad boy." However, in 2016, Harry met his wife-to-be Meghan Markle, and his rebellious streak seemed to have come to an end.
Even though Prince Harry has apparently turned over a new leaf, he's certainly had his fair share of awkward moments, both before and after meeting Meghan. In fact, looking at the number of public embarrassments the royal has suffered, it's easy to forget that he was raised by the royal family at all! It's certainly comforting to know that even royals have occasional slip ups like the rest of us. Curious to find out more? Here are Prince Harry's most awkward moments.
Prince Harry looked seriously uncomfortable in this awkward video call
In 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced they were stepping away from the royal family, and moving away from Britain. Later that year, the royal couple took part in a video call with members of the Queen's Commonwealth Trust from their new home in Los Angeles. According to body language expert Judi James, the prince looked uncharacteristically awkward throughout the call and even "spoke down to the floor" (via The Daily Mail). She went on to comment on Harry's positioning in the frame, saying that he "looks slightly trapped to one side."
James wasn't the only person to notice Prince Harry's strange demeanor; plenty of people took to social media to voice their thoughts as well. Apparently, one unnamed Twitter user even said, "I'm beginning to think he is being held hostage," and used the hashtag "SavePrinceHarry" on the post.
While it's impossible to know whether Prince Harry actually felt awkward during the call, or if he was simply struggling to find the right words to express himself, it's pretty clear that he didn't come across so well on this video call!
When Prince Harry planted an awkward kiss on the cheek, it went horribly wrong
Ever gone for a kiss on the cheek and immediately regretted it? We've all been there — even, as it turns out, Prince Harry! In 2018, the royal was caught on camera in what is surely one of the most awkward greetings of all time.
It all went down at the launch of Meghan Markle's first solo project as a royal family member. Prince Harry, Markle, and her mother, Doris Ragland, were chatting with a female volunteer (via The Sun). Ragland greeted the woman with a kiss on both cheeks. But when Prince Harry goes in for a similar kiss, the woman backs away. Instead of backing off himself, Prince Harry bends down, holds out his arms, and waits for her to accept his kiss on the cheek. Then, the awkward kiss finally takes place, with Prince Harry and the woman directing their demure pecks into the air.
This particular moment is so cringe-worthy, it's hard to watch. This is definitely one of the most awkward royal family kisses of all time!
It was awkward when Prince Harry apparently rolled his eyes at Meghan Markle
Usually, Prince Harry and his wife Megan Markle are the perfect picture of married bliss, no matter where they are in the world. However, in the audience of a 2019 Cirque du Soleil performance in London, the royal couple were caught by the cameras during a pretty awkward moment.
According to Yahoo!, a video of the couple showed Prince Harry stretching out his hand to Markle. She takes his hand, saying, "Thank you," to which he looked furious and rolled his eyes! That's some pretty strange behavior on Prince Harry's part. He was even captured fiddling with his ring after the incident, to which one unnamed Instagram user commented, "Playing with the ring is not good."
We'll never know for sure what made Prince Harry so exasperated about this moment with his wife. But one thing's for sure: royal fans were quick to notice the tension between the pair!
Prince Harry's awkward run-in with Miranda Hart was made public
Miranda Hart is a well-known British comedian, who won over audiences with her hit show Miranda. The star opened up about her awkward encounter with Prince Harry on The Graham Norton Show in 2015. It all happened when she hosted part of the Jubilee Concert, and had the chance to meet both the princes. She explained, "I completely died on my a** with Harry, it was so embarrassing." Oof!
Hart went on to say that when she encountered Prince Harry, she apologized for the flirting jokes she'd made in her speech, to which he replied, "It's a shame there's not music here and dancing." She explained that Prince Harry was just trying to be sweet — but what happened next is seriously awkward for Hart! She then said, "I can hear music," in an attempt to make a joke. However, Harry thought she was being serious!
We can just imagine how embarrassing that moment must have been for Hart — and for Prince Harry, who apparently had no idea how to respond to her bizarre comment!
When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle bumped into his ex-girlfriend, it was awkward
It's pretty common knowledge that Prince Harry had a seriously wild past, so it's not surprising that Prince Harry has quite a few ex-girlfriends. One of the lucky ladies rumored to be on that list is actress Jenna Coleman. Apparently, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle bumped into Coleman during a trip to Amsterdam in 2018 — and by all reports, the encounter was seriously awkward.
A witness to the event told Vanity Fair what happened: it seems that the royal couple and Coleman were seated in the same room for breakfast. The source explained how Prince Harry and Markle had to walk straight past Coleman's table to reach their seats. "It was pretty awkward and some of the other guests were commenting on it," the witness revealed. "Jenna looked down while Harry looked straight ahead, while Meghan didn't seem to notice." The source went on to stress that Prince Harry looked uncomfortable throughout the entire meal.
Apparently, Coleman got up and left pretty quickly afterwards — clearly, she could feel the tension too!
The Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda invited Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to honeymoon there before they were even engaged
Prince Harry met his future wife Meghan Markle in 2016, and the rest was history. And while the pair hit it off pretty quickly, one embarrassing instance proves that they weren't quite ready for marriage right out of the gate.
When Prince Harry visited Antigua and Barbuda on a royal errand, the country's Prime Minister, Gaston Browne, invited the royal and his new girlfriend to return to the country — for their honeymoon! The BBC posted a video of the awkward exchange. The Prime Minister said, "Antigua and Barbuda has been voted consistently as the best honeymoon destination in the Caribbean [...] so, there will no be no other place in the Caribbean for sure that is better to spend your upcoming honeymoon whenever that may arise."
Prince Harry can be seen looking awkwardly at the floor and blushing as the Prime Minister makes the joke. It's pretty clear that he was a few years ahead of the prince on this one!
Prince Harry had an awkward encounter with Malala Yousafzai
Malala Yousafzai is an internationally recognized activist for gender equality in Pakistan and the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Prince Harry met Yousafzai at the 2014 We Day assembly, and the meeting turned out to be pretty awkward for them both.
Apparently, it all started innocently enough. According to Craig Kielburger, co-founder of the event, when the pair were posing for a photo together, Prince Harry casually tried to place his arm around the activist's shoulder. Kielburger explained that her mother started shouting, "'No, no no,' which translated to, 'Not unless you marry her can you touch her,'" he revealed to Hello! Magazine. Yikes, the prince clearly didn't know the correct protocol!
Kielburger went on, "The prince was so red in his face at that moment and he was clasping his hands in the front. Malala was so embarrassed!" And we aren't surprised — the moment sounds totally mortifying!
Prince Harry was embarrassed by Meghan Markle's awkward pregnancy reveal
Anyone who follows the royals will know that etiquette matters. With the royal family, there is a correct time and place for everything. However, it would seem that Prince Harry's wife Meghan Markle didn't fully understand the intricacies of royal etiquette — and she ended up seriously embarrassing her husband because of it.
According to the book Royals at War, written by journalists Dylan Howard and Andy Tillett, Markle's pregnancy announcement was incredibly poorly timed. "Meghan put her foot in it," the book stated, "when she decided that [Princess Eugenie's wedding] would be the ideal moment to announce that she and Harry were expecting their first child." As the book went on to explain, this was a "huge social gaffe" as it stole the limelight from the bride. Oops!
Apparently, Markle's bad timing made both the bride and her mother furious. That must have been pretty awkward for Prince Harry, who would have known just how serious Markle's blunder was! Fortunately there are plenty of royal rules Meghan Markle and Prince Harry no longer have to follow.
It was awkward when Prince Harry's hilarious old Instagram handle was revealed
Most people who have grown up with social media accounts have their own embarrassing online histories. Whether it's an old MySpace page, or an email address you made when you were a teenager, we've all been there. But it may surprise you to learn that Prince Harry has social media gaffes of his own. In 2020, Harper's Bazaar published an excerpt from Finding Freedom, a biography about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle; it confirmed that the royal had a super cringe-worthy Instagram handle back in the day.
Ready for it? Apparently, Prince Harry started an Instagram account under the hilarious name @SpikeyMau5 back in 2016! The authors of the book revealed that the name was an homage to the prince's love of house music and artist DeadMau5. Apparently, "Spike" is a nickname often used by Scotland Yard officers. Talk about an awkward revelation for Prince Harry — or should we say "SpikeyMau5!"
When Prince Harry got drunk and fell into a pool, it was super awkward
Back in Prince Harry's "bad boy" heyday, he had his fair share of embarrassing moments that were caught on camera for the world to see. One of the most memorable and awkward blunders happened in 2011, when, as Sky News reported at the time, Prince Harry travelled to Croatia for a spot of wild partying.
In a clip of Prince Harry at a Croatian nightclub, the young prince can be seen showing off his moves on the edge of a pool, clearly having the time of his life. When he loses his balance, he makes the split second decision to dive headfirst into the pool, nearly hitting his head on a wooden plank. Then, in a hilarious turn of events, the prince then climbed out of the pool and immediately continued dancing!
While Prince Harry wasn't too perturbed by the incident at the time, this awkward fall-turned-dive into a nightclub pool has to be embarrassing for him in retrospect. Still, it's not the absolutely worst thing Prince Harry has ever done.
Prince Harry got into an awkward public battle with a bee
Prince Harry frequently gives speeches in public as part of his royal duties — or at least he did before moving to Los Angeles with his wife Meghan Markle! During one such event in 2019, things didn't go according to plan when a pesky bee stole the prince's thunder.
The hilarious moment took place during Prince Charles' 70th birthday celebrations. As Prince Harry delivered his speech, he was seen swatting away a bug that was flying close to his head. Prince Harry then went quiet for a moment, before trying to continue, stumbling over his words. He then chuckled and said, "Sorry, that bee really got me," provoking laughter from audience members. Apparently, bees don't have too much respect for royalty!
We're pretty impressed at how Prince Harry handled the situation so professionally. After all, bee stings can be seriously painful!
It was awkward when Prince Harry was caught partying a little too hard in Las Vegas
What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas — unless someone takes secretive, embarrassing pictures of you! In yet another awkward moment from Prince Harry's wild youth, he was having what looked like a little too much fun in Sin City. Back in 2012, the Daily Mail published a series of photos of the young prince enjoying a pool party — and behaving a bit inappropriately for a royal. The images appeared to show Prince Harry cozying up with unknown young women in the jacuzzi.
As the publication reported, these pictures were only half of the story. Apparently, the prince was also photographed playing strip pool in his Las Vegas suite. While these images had to be incredibly embarrassing for the prince, they also raised questions about his security team. Things could have become dangerous for Prince Harry if his guests had done more than simply photograph him in compromising situations!
At any rate, it doesn't get much worse than a naked photo. We're guessing that Prince Harry feels pretty embarrassed by his Vegas escapades today.
Prince George awkwardly called Prince Harry out for being a goofball in front of the Obamas
Prince Harry has embarrassed himself in public due to his past wild behavior, but since he's matured, he's tried to come across as a little more restrained. So when the royal visited the Obamas in 2016, he was reportedly on his best behavior.
Everything was going swimmingly, until his nephew, Prince George, blew his cover! Michelle Obama told the hilarious, awkward story in an interview with ABC News. "I have to say that the most precious thing — if you haven't already fallen in love with [Harry] — is to see him with his nephew," the former First Lady shared. She went on to explain that Prince George was incredibly confused by Harry's demure behavior, not understanding why he was being quiet. Prince Harry even mumbled "so embarrassing" under his breath — this clearly wasn't the introduction to the Obamas he had hoped for!
Eventually Prince Harry explained Prince George's behavior: the boy was confused because his uncle was on his "best behavior," when usually he'd "be throwing him around the room." What an adorable awkward moment for the two princes!
When Prince Harry got excited like a little kid about Star Wars props, it was awkward
Most professionals wouldn't want pictures of them playing with toys posted all over the internet — especially not royals who are in line for the throne of England! However, in 2016, Prince Harry and Prince William's fanboy excitement got the better of them when they were shown around the Star Wars film set by actress Daisy Ridley. Apparently, the two princes are huge fans of the franchise, and even filmed a scene for the movie as a pair of stormtroopers!
At first, Prince Harry can be seen getting scared by a realistic looking weapon. Later on, Prince Harry and Prince William got their hands on a couple of lightsabers, and had a pretend (and slightly pathetic) duel. While the photos may be a little embarrassing for the two princes, they certainly had some fun on this royal outing! It looks like Prince Harry and Prince William's relationship has turned a corner.