SerpApi.Org
Prince Harry faced criticism after a decade-old comment to former England striker Peter Crouch about Crouch’s wife, model Abbey Clancy, resurfaced on social media this week.
Crouch shared the exchange on the podcast Stick to Football. He explained that Harry approached him in a locker room following a charity soccer match in 2015 at Old Trafford in Manchester. David Beckham organized the match to support UNICEF.
“(Harry) came in, and he said, ‘Yeah, Crouchy, how did you bag Abby?'” Crouch recalled.
Crouch, 45, felt surprised by the question, later thinking of a better reply he wished he had shared.
“I wish I had said to him, ‘You can talk. I wasn’t quick enough!'” Crouch noted. “He was obviously a prince. I was taken aback by it.”
Clips of the podcast segment spread on the social media platform X, where users criticized Harry’s words.
One user called the remark “crude and misogynistic.” Another labeled Harry as “entitled and rude,” claiming he spoke about women “as if they are some sort of ‘game sport’ to be ‘bagged.'”
An unnamed royal source told RadarOnline that Harry “has matured over the years,” but the remark “inevitably looks different when viewed through a modern lens.”
A second unnamed source mentioned that the comment predates Harry’s marriage to Meghan Markle, but its resurfacing has led to comparisons with their public statements on gender equality.
Harry, now 41, was a working royal at the time of the 2015 match. He met Markle in 2016 and married her in 2018, a year after they announced their engagement.
Harry and Markle stepped down as senior royals in January 2020. They initially split their time between Canada and the United Kingdom before settling in Montecito, California, where they live with their two children.
The couple founded the Archewell Foundation to manage their charitable work. Markle later launched a lifestyle brand called As Ever.
Since moving to the United States, Harry and Markle have signed deals in television, podcasting, and publishing.
They have discussed equality and online behavior in various public projects, including a 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, the Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, and Harry’s 2023 memoir, Spare.
Relationships between Harry and senior royals have remained tense since those projects were released.
Prince Harry and his family reportedly met King Charles and Queen Camilla privately at Highgrove House on July 10.
It was the King’s first time seeing his grandchild in about four years. Prince William was reportedly not involved in the gathering, and it appears the brothers are still at odds, according to recent reports.
Despite the reunion, some tension remains over a recent dispute over what happened to an offer for the Sussex family to stay at Buckingham Palace.
Crouch, a former England national team striker, married Clancy, a model and television personality, in 2011. They have four children together.
