Prince Harry made a surprise appearance at the Friday, October 9, Gallagher PREM Rugby match between Leicester and Gloucester after moving across the pond.
Harry, 42, was spotted sitting in the stands at the Mattioli Woods Welford Road Stadium for the duration, which ended 38-31 in Leicester’s favor. The Duke of Sussex dressed casually in a black puffer coat, as he was spotted chatting with his seatmate.
Harry previously served as the patron of English rugby, a position he ultimately lost after stepping back from his duties as a senior working royal in 2020. Following the move, Harry and wife Meghan Markle left England for Montecito, California. The couple returned to the U.K. in August in time for their children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, to attend a local British school for the fall semester.
“Look, the last few weeks have been … eventful,” Harry told Hello! magazine last month, breaking his silence on his return to his native country.
Neither Harry nor Meghan, 45, shared what led to their decision to move back to England, while a source alleged to Us that the duke was “not as happy” in the United States as he was in England.
“They are open to a new chapter,” the insider exclusively told Us in August, revealing that the Sussexes still plan to retain their properties in California and Portugal. “They’ve been spending a lot of time in Portugal this summer. Harry has friends there, and Meghan has expat friends there. They have a community there.”
Harry’s father, King Charles III, has since confirmed that his son won’t resume any royal duties following the move. (Harry had been estranged from Charles, 77, upon his move to California, though the father-son duo have since started to mend fences.)
“The charitable work of the Duke and Duchess is a personal matter for them both and undertaken in their private capacity,” the king wrote in a September letter sent to Harry and Meghan’s team. “In short, their position is akin to private citizens with commercial and charitable interests.”
The monarch continued, “It is well known that, in January 2020, the Duke and Duchess stepped down from undertaking representative duties on behalf of The Sovereign, and are no longer working Members of The Royal Family. This position, distinct from the State and Royal duties undertaken by the working Royal Family, and with the personal latitude it brings the couple in respect of financial independence and protection of their privacy as they would wish, will continue to be fully respected.”
