Prince Harry Apologizes to Canada For World Series “Hatgate”: “I Was Under Duress”

Prince Harry, accompanied by Meghan Markle, came for a baseball game and left with a new controversy. On October 28, the Sussexes attended the fourth game of the World Series, between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays. The couple sat in the front row behind the dugout, all smiles, with Los Angeles team caps on their heads, cheering for their adopted hometown team.

But Prince Harry made the mistake of wearing a Dodgers cap. As soon as he was spotted wearing the bright blue accessory, some Canadians accused him of betraying his heritage: Canada is a Commonwealth country whose head of state is King Charles III. Arriving in Canada on Wednesday for a two-day visit to commemorate Remembrance Day, celebrated on November 11, Prince Harry was naturally asked about what has jokingly been deemed “hatgate.”

“Is there anything you’d like to say about wearing that Los Angeles Dodgers cap last week and getting in hot water?” he was asked by CTV News on Thursday.

“Oh, the Los Angeles Dodgers cap. Well, firstly, I’d like to apologize to Canada for wearing it,” he explained. “Secondly, I was under duress, there wasn’t much choice,” he added with a smile. Invited to the game by the Dodgers’ owner, he thought it was “polite” to do so. Prince Harry confided that there was an additional reason for his choice of headgear. “When you’re missing a lot of hair on top and you’re sitting under floodlights, you’ll take any hat that’s available,” he joked.

During the interview, the 41-year-old Brit grabbed a Blue Jays cap, which had been given to him earlier in the day, and popped it onto his head, saying he would wear it from now on to “make sure I don’t make any more of those mistakes.” At the same time, he assured those gathered he had remained a loyal supporter of the Canadian team throughout the championship, despite his adopted hometown and choice of accessories. “Now that I’ve admitted it, it’s going to be really hard for me to return to Los Angeles,” he added.

Meghan Markle also supported her hometown team, the Dodgers, in the World Series, even though she lived in Toronto for seven years for the filming of the series Suits. The American players’ dramatic Game 7 victory delighted the Duchess of Sussex, if a jubilant video she shared on her Instagram Story at the time is anything to go by. Prince Harry, perhaps, had a harder time digesting the Blue Jays’ defeat.

Originally published in Vanity Fair France.

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