The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were spotted on a date night in Los Angeles on Monday night, as Prince Harry prepares to attend his father’s coronation in less than two weeks.
Harry and Meghan Markle were broadcast on the Crypto.com Arena’s Jumbotron during the Los Angeles Lakers’ game against the Memphis Grizzlies.
A clip of the couple shared on social media showed Meghan giggling as Harry appears to lean towards her for a kiss.
She then bursts into laughter as she stops him by grabbing his arm affectionately, while Harry jokingly pulls a face.
According to Entertainment Tonight, the audience cheered loudly when the couple appeared on the Jumbotron screen.
One eyewitness who was at the game said: “They giggled when they realised they were on the big screen. They seemed really happy and were having a lot of fun.”
On social media, fans of the couple have joked about the playful way Meghan dodged her husband’s advances, with one person writing: “Harry was denied! They are so cute together,” while another said: “Not Harry coming in for a kiss and Meghan saying no ma’am, not on the kiss cam” along with a laughing face emoji.
The game was attended by a slew of other celebrities, including Kim Kardashian and Kris Jenner, Adam Sandler, and others.
The Sussexes’ appearance comes after it emerged that Meghan reportedly sent a letter to King Charles III two years ago, expressing concerns about unconscious bias in the royal family.
It has been claimed that the letter, which is said to have been sent after the couple’s interview on the Oprah Winfrey Show in March 2021, was part of the reason the duchess will not be present at the King’s coronation.
Buckingham Palace confirmed that while Harry will attend the historic occasion, Meghan will remain at their home in California with their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. The coronation also falls on the same day as Archie’s birthday.
However, on Sunday (23 April), the Sussexes denied the letter had anything to do with Meghan’s decision not to attend the ceremony.
In a statement released via royal commentator Omid Scobie, the couple said: “The Duchess of Sussex is going about her life in the present, not thinking about correspondence from two years ago related to conversations from four years ago.
“Any suggestion otherwise is false and frankly ridiculous. We encourage tabloid media and various royal commentators to stop the exhausting circus that they alone are creating.”
Meghan made her first public appearance since confirming she will not be at the coronation earlier on Monday, when she appeared via video in a pre-recorded message to introduce her friend Misan Harriman at his recent Ted Talk.
Photographer Harriman was credited with capturing “many meaningful milestones” for the Sussexes, with Meghan praising him as having “an unmatched eye for a good photograph”.
