Prince Harry has issued an apology following criticism over his choice of headwear at a World Series baseball game last month.

The Duke of Sussex attended Game 4 of the championship on October 28 alongside his wife, Meghan Markle, watching as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 6–2. The couple sat in coveted front-row seats reportedly worth tens of thousands of dollars, surrounded by some of Los Angeles’s most famous figures, including team co-owner Magic Johnson and baseball legend Sandy Koufax.

However, eagle-eyed fans quickly noticed one small detail that sparked a major online debate: Harry was wearing a Los Angeles Dodgers cap.

Social media users were quick to call out the royal for supporting the losing side instead of the Canadian team.
“Harry should be cheering for Canada, a Commonwealth country!” one critic wrote on Instagram. Another added, “Not shocked with Meghan, but disappointed with Harry — he should be cheering on the Commonwealth country.” A third echoed the sentiment, saying, “Considering their family represents the Commonwealth and Canada is part of that, they should have been wearing Jays hats.”

Others came to Harry’s defense, pointing out that he stepped down as a senior working royal in 2020 and no longer represents the Commonwealth in any official capacity. “Harry lives in California, married to a local, father to locals. This is silly,” one fan argued. Another chimed in: “Harry’s just living his best life — I’m here for it!”

This week, the Duke directly addressed the light-hearted controversy — dubbed “hatgate” — during an interview with CTV News on Thursday, November 6.

When asked if he had anything to say about the incident, Harry replied with a grin, “Oh, the L.A. Dodgers hat — hatgate. Well, firstly, I would like to apologize to Canada for wearing it.”

He went on to explain that the decision wasn’t entirely his own. “Secondly, I was under duress. There wasn’t much choice. I was invited to the LA Dodgers box or the dugout by the owner himself, so I was doing what I thought was the polite thing to do.”

To set the record straight, Harry appeared for the interview wearing a Blue Jays cap, joking, “I’m going to wear this from now on to make sure I don’t make any more of those mistakes. When you’re missing a lot of hair on top and you’re sitting under floodlights, you’ll take any hat that’s available.”

The Duke concluded by reaffirming his allegiance for the remainder of the series, adding with a smile that he was “Blue Jays throughout.”