Meghan Markle's "private" comment to Prince Harry during a 2018 theater visit has gone viral after a fan uploaded footage to social media platform TikTok.
Harry and Meghan visited the Victoria Palace Theatre in London's West End three months after their 2018 royal wedding to see the newly opened production of Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical, Hamilton.
The American-born duchess undertook a number of arts related engagements during her time as a working royal, inspired by her background in the entertainment industry, most notably as an actress on the hit legal drama, Suits.
After the performance, the royal couple went backstage to meet members of the cast and creative team, and to pose for a photograph which was later released to the media.
In a viral clip, uploaded to TikTok by user the.royal.watcher on Sunday, Meghan can be seen positioning herself in front of Harry as the cast gather round for the photograph. In a quiet aside she was heard asking her husband: "Can you see my love?"
At this, a number of the cast members reacted with appreciative "ahhs."
Captioned, "Meghan not realising the cast would hear her...👀," the video has taken the internet by storm, gaining more than 3 million views so far and receiving in excess of 161,000 likes and 600 comments.
A number of TikTok users have commented on the video praising the duchess, while others have highlighted her apparently low public popularity.
"She gets so much hate for absolutely no reason," said one poster.
"Some people really can't handle that they are really are happily in love. 🥰," wrote another, with a further adding: "This private little comment [is] so incredibly sweet. Why do they hate her? They're just two people who care about each other. You can't deny it."
However, a group of additional commenters posed the possibility that the comment was premeditated with one suggesting: "She knew exactly what she was doing 🙄."
Harry and Meghan have seen their popularity decline since recent bombshell media releases, including their six-part Netflix docuseries that debuted in December 2022, and Harry's 410-page memoir Spare, published in January 2023.
In Britain, the couple are now more unpopular than ever, with net approval ratings of -22 for Harry and -27 for Meghan, according to first quarter polling for YouGov.
In the U.S. it's been a similar picture, with the couple's net approval ratings sitting at -10 and -17 in February 2023, according to polling for Newsweek by strategists Redfield & Wilton.
However, a tide change seems to be occurring with more positive views of the pair apparent in data compiled in April. The latest figures show Harry and Meghan's net approval ratings in the U.S. at +8 and -6, respectively.
On May 6 the prince will attend the coronation of his father, King Charles III in London. It will be the first time he will be publicly reunited with his family members since the publication of Spare, in which he made a number of unflattering claims against his brother, Prince William, his stepmother, Queen Camilla, and father, Charles.
After mounting speculation over whether or not Harry and Meghan would attend the coronation amid the apparent family tensions, it was announced in April that the prince would make the transatlantic journey for the ceremony but that Meghan and the couple's children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, would not.
A statement read: "Buckingham Palace is pleased to confirm that The Duke of Sussex will attend the Coronation Service at Westminster Abbey on 6th May. The Duchess of Sussex will remain in California with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet."
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
