Debate erupted Friday over whether some in the crowd outside St. Paul’s Cathedral in London Friday booed when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrived for the thanksgiving service in honor of the queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
During the Sky TV broadcast, presenters said a mix of cheers and jeers accompanied the appearance of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who nonetheless kept their composure and continued to smile as they held hands and climbed the steps at St. Paul’s. It was the California-based couple’s first public appearance with other members of the royal family since the tension-filled Commonwealth service at Westminster Abbey in March 2020, amid their acrimonious departure from royal life just before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The jeers apparently were audible enough that Sky News commentator Rhiannon Mills said the negative reaction from some shouldn’t be surprising. She mentioned that the couple had become controversial in the U.K., because of the view that they “snubbed” the queen by not giving her sufficient notice before they went public in January 2020 with their plans to step away from royal duties and move to North America.
