New Glimpse of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour Seems to Shut Down Marital Discord Rumors
It’s interesting, isn’t it, the limited view we so often get on celebrities, including and especially those in the royal family? How, say, a photo taken of a split second of Prince Harry at Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour on Friday night can be portrayed in outlets around the globe as “Harry is miserable,” when really it was just a fleeting moment in time that doesn’t tell the entire story? Case in point: while wife Meghan Markle and mother-in-law Doria Ragland danced along to the music, Harry was caught in a fleeting perceived grimace, as headlines proclaimed him bored to death. But then, this—as Doria continues to dance in front of them (as anyone should at a Beyoncé concert!) Harry and Meghan are locked in a passionate embrace, kissing, The Daily Express reports. This photo didn’t get nearly as much coverage, because, unfortunately, so many want to only read coverage that supports their personal narrative of *insert celebrity here* (and, unfortunately for Harry and Meghan, that narrative is often negative). Beyond just the Beyoncé concert, seemingly incorrect rumors have run rampant all summer that Harry and Meghan’s marriage is in trouble. Both rumors—boredom at Beyoncé and any rumors of marital strife—seem to be upended in a grainy video that the couple would have had no way of knowing was being taken of them as they enjoyed the performance in the VIP box at SoFi Stadium.
“It’s the way the British Media swore up and down that Harry and Meghan were ‘miserable’ and that they were heading for divorce,” a fan posted on X (also known as the platform formerly known as Twitter). “Meanwhile at the Renaissance World Tour…”
The Daily Express reports that “the pair appear to be having a good time while dancing before Meghan wraps her arms around Harry’s neck and the Duke leans in for a kiss. The two embrace before pulling back, after which Meghan raises one hand in the air while bouncing to the music.”
The media has been obsessed with the notion this summer that, just because Harry and Meghan are doing some professional projects separately (no, we don’t have to do every professional endeavor with our partners), that their marriage is in trouble. Marie Claire refuted rumors earlier this summer that, because Meghan has been spotted without her diamond engagement ring, their marriage is ending; she’s still, after all, wearing her wedding band. The Daily Express reports that, as the Sussexes just hit their milestone five-year wedding anniversary last May, that they “are fully supportive of each other” and even as their professional paths may deviate, they’re still personally doing just fine.
“This does not spell the end of their personal relationship,” the outlet writes, “as the couple prepare to put on a united front at next week’s Invictus Games in Germany.” The Games kick off on September 9 and run through September 16; Harry will stop off in the U.K. briefly before heading to Germany to attend the WellChild Awards on September 7, but Meghan is not expected to join him there. September 8, as if any royal follower needs reminding, is the one-year anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s death.
A source speaking to The Telegraph said of Harry and Meghan “If you introduce a couple together and the world knows them together, and then they find themselves in a situation where they need to find their own projects and their own identity, there is going to be a lot of speculation. But on top of being a couple, they are both working on their own things. They are fully supportive of each other’s concepts and ideas, but they are different from one another, they have different meanings. Everybody understands that they’re not just going to stand still.”
This comes as a source speaking to The Telegraph said that the couple is “done with their former lives,” presumably referring to life as working members of the royal family. Princess Diana’s biographer and royal expert Andrew Morton also said as much on Sky News, per The Daily Express, when he said of the Sussexes that “They’ve got their own lives in California. They’ve got their own set, they’ve got their own influence, and they’ve got their own companies.”
A quick aside: before the inevitable comments that this writer (or this publication) is pro one side or the other—not so. This writer strives (though, admittedly, sometimes doesn’t get it right) to provide the most balanced coverage possible of every member of the royal family, to be reasonably fair and objective—and still wonders, after all of these years, why there has to be sides at all, and why all members of this (admittedly polarizing) family can’t be seen as compelling, sometimes maddening, and yet always, always worthy of basic respect, as all human beings are.
