Prince Harry's meeting with Cillian Murphy at a film premiere has gone viral on TikTok, with fans speculating the royal did not make a great impression on the actor.
The pair had a brief exchange during a meet and greet at the Dunkirk world premiere at Odeon Leicester Square, in London, on July 13, 2017.
That was a year before Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding, during a period when the Sussexes were popular in Britain and before any hint, publicly, of a rift between royal family members.
It is not known what they said, and there were no signs of open hostility during the conversation, but as Harry moved on to speak to other people Murphy appeared to offer the prince some side-eye.
Video of the moment went viral on TikTok after being posted with the message: "I don't know what Prince Harry did but I'm on Cillian Murphy's side."
It is possible internet users are simply reading too much into Murphy's facial expression, but some fans also offered other explanations.
Some suggested it may have been a political stance over the historic conflict between Britain and Ireland.
One wrote: "That's 800 years in 1 look if you know you know. the wind that shakes the barley."
The Wind That Shakes the Barley was a 2006 film about the Irish War of Independence, which starred Cillian Murphy.
Another joked: "I know for a FACT he's runnin rebel songs in his head."
Another offered a more simple explanation: "Cillian has a resting-get-me-out-of-here-face all the time."
And the creator of the video was quick to point out they had no inside knowledge on the history of the conflict: "I legit made this because i thought the song over the video and the looks he's serving was funny. Sorry im not a history major."
Harry and Murphy's encounter came four months before the prince became engaged to Meghan, in November, 2017, and at a point when he was widely popular in Britain.
That November, polling by YouGov showed 81 percent of U.K. adults had a positive view of him, compared to 11 percent who viewed him negatively.
Since then, Harry has become highly unpopular in his home country after quitting palace life in 2020 and taking repeated swipes at his family and the monarchy, including in his memoir Spare.
In January, the month the book was released, 68 percent of U.K. adults disliked him compared to 24 percent who liked him, according to YouGov.
While audiences now may view Harry negatively through the prism of royal rifts, family drama and debates about privacy, those tensions had not yet come to surface by the time of the Dunkirk premiere.
Whatever Murphy's impression of Harry at the time, it is therefore unlikely to be a product of the issues that have turned many royal watchers against the duke in recent years.
Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jack_royston 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
Jack Royston is Newsweek's Chief Royal Correspondent based in London, U.K. He reports on the British royal family—including King Charles ... Read more
