Prince Harry donned an all-orange costume over the weekend to promote the upcoming Invictus Games happening in the Netherlands this April.
The Duke of Sussex posted a humorous promotional video over the weekend to prepare and welcome the upcoming Invictus Games, which provide an international tournament for wounded and injured former servicemen and women to compete in a range of sports.
As the games will be taking place in The Hague in the Netherlands, Harry took the opportunity to chat with athletes from the Dutch team. The national color of the Netherlands is a relatively bright orange, which inspired the Prince to choose a rather eye-catching outfit.
Prince Harry wore all orange to honor the Dutch team
The video started with Harry receiving a Dutch language lesson from the Dutch team. He worked on a few simple phrases and his pronunciation, and the Duke actually performed admirably well. At this stage, Harry was dressed in a relatively non-descript black hoodie.
Towards the end of the video, Harry was informed by the athletes that he was now ready to journey to the Netherlands. When told not to forget his hat, Harry said, “Oh yes,” and donned a bright orange fedora with some bright orange sunglasses.
Harry then removed his black hoodie to reveal he was completely covered in orange. The attire was very casual, consisting of a t-shirt and shorts or jogging bottoms. The Prince pointed directly at the camera and said, “let’s go.”
Fans of Harry and the Games were quick to show their appreciation. One Twitter user wrote: “The Invictus Games is one of Prince Harry’s best gift to the world.”
And another Twitter fan appreciated Harry’s language skills before adding, “I love Prince Harry and I love the Invictus Games.”
Not everyone was a fan of Prince Harry’s new orange look
But not everyone was amused or impressed with Harry’s antics. Royal commentator and author Angela Levin tweeted: “If Harry thought his orange stunt was funny. It’s not.”
Levin responded to another tweet that suggested Meghan Markle may be behind the stunt and accused Harry of being tacky. They wrote: “What?!!! Is Harry plugging Fanta Orange now? You can tell his wife is directing him as it just reeks of complete tackiness! The devaluing continues…..”
Another Twitter user wondered if Harry was making fun of the Dutch Royal family by appropriating their national color. They wrote: “Gee, orange being the color for royalty in the Netherlands, the heir/heiress is known as prince/princess of Orange, equivalent to prince of Wales. Is it a diplomatic faux-pas? Is he making fun of the Royal Family over there?”
According to the Daily Express, there were also complaints that Harry’s promotional video did not do anything to highlight the veterans who would be taking part in the games and that Harry had made it all about himself.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have courted quite a bit of controversy in the last week following news that they will not be returning to the UK for a memorial to Harry’s grandfather, Prince Philip, who passed away last year. Also, last week, a rumor emerged that the Queen may now never have the opportunity to meet her granddaughter, Lilibet.