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Home / Lifestyle

Prince Harry's awkward honeymoon invitation

By James Wilkinson, Emily Kent, Jo Teedy and Abe Hawken
Daily Mail·
23 Nov, 2016 01:45 AM8 mins to read

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Prince Harry sports a "royal flush" as he dances with a singer and Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne. Photo / Getty Images

Prince Harry sports a "royal flush" as he dances with a singer and Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne. Photo / Getty Images

A red-faced Prince Harry was last night invited to spend his honeymoon in Antigua - barely weeks after publicly confirming a relationship with Meghan Markle.

During a reception in front of 300 guests, Antigua PM Gaston Browne said: "I believe we are expecting a new princess soon. I want you to know that you are very welcome to come on your honeymoon here."

A grimacing Harry, 32, fiddled with his shirt and avoided eye contact as the comments were made.

Introducing the prince to a group of scantily-clad models, the prime minister added: "Whatever is done here, stays here. So do not worry".

The prince faced further embarrassment when a singer performing at the VIP dinner tried to make him dance on stage. The royal showed off his best dad dancing, pointing and swaying, as the crowd cheered.

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Harry has tried to keep his relationship with Markle a secret despite the eyes of the watching world - so much so that the organizers of the charity trip told those who met him during the Caribbean trip not to mention her.

But that message didn't make it to the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, who asked in front of a VIP crowd: "I understand that there may be a new addition to the Royal Family very soon?

"I am told that there may be a new princess and I just want to say that should you make the decision to honeymoon - then Antigua and Barbuda want to welcome you."

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The awkwardness continued as Browne told Prince Harry that he would be meeting a series of beauty queens from the island - and tried to set him up for a night of passion.

"Whatever is done here, stays here. So do not worry," Browne joked, to Harry's visible discomfort.

Prince Harry dances with soca singer Claudette Peters and Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Mr Gaston Browne at Barnacle Point. Photo / Getty Images
Prince Harry dances with soca singer Claudette Peters and Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Mr Gaston Browne at Barnacle Point. Photo / Getty Images

The cringey climax as soca musician Claudette Peters tried to tempt the prince out onto the dance floor for a traditional Antiguan dance - to the cheers of the watching ladies.

"Can we dance?" the sultry singer asked as Harry's cheeks flushed red and he shifted from foot to foot.

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"Can we dance?" she asked again as he shook his head and playfully pointed to Browne, who was up on the stage with him. "He wants to dance!" he joked.

After a little more cajoling from Peters - "Just a little bit! Just a little bit!" - she finally let the young man go and turned to Browne, who was happy to take the prince's place - even performing a pretend strip with his jacket as a relieved Harry sat down behind them.

Peters also performed as Harry met the group of scantily clad local beauties promised by Browne earlier - but was similarly careful about not putting on a show.

Miss Antigua and Barbuda, Leanda Norville said that he had politely refused to have his photo taken with her.

She didn't seem to mind, however. "He was a gentleman," she said. "Of course I want to be his princess. Everyone at this party does. His girlfriend seems a nice lady, but I would be a good girlfriend for him."

After the event, Browne told press: "I believe Meghan is a very beautiful looking girl; they make a very good looking couple," and reiterated his hope that the pair would head to Antigua for "some quiet time very soon."

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Local dancers perform as Prince Harry attends a reception hosted by Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda. Photo / Getty Images
Local dancers perform as Prince Harry attends a reception hosted by Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda. Photo / Getty Images

Harry had been much more in his element earlier in the day as he met severely mentally and physically disabled children, on the second day of his tour of the Caribbean.

The prince had arrived earlier in the day at the official residence of the Governor General - the Queen's representative in Antigua and Barbuda - for the Colours of Charity event.

Harry had chatted to young people and played with children. He also had fun blowing bubbles with youngsters in national dress, who were entertained by clowns and stilt-walkers.

Little Chance de Gannes, aged five, blew bubbles in the prince's face; Harry joked with the youngster, making a funny face as they popped on his beard.

Each charity adopted a different color for the afternoon of fun and activity, while bands including the Antigua Girls' High School Steel Orchestra and the National Youth Choir provided a musical accompaniment.

He also laid down to give a hug to Jeanique, 21, who has spina bifida, and also kissed her on the forehead.

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Mrs Carey said: "She wanted a hug for her birthday which was last month and he was amazing.:

Cuthbert Forbes, 21, a worker with the Halo Foundation, which organised the event, said they were not told to talk about Harry's relationship with Markles.

He added: "It came up at an organising committee meeting when we were thinking about what we could talk to him about and one of the core members of the committee said we shouldn't talk about his girlfriend because it is personal."A

Instead the charity worker joked with the prince about giving him his £65 red suede shoes which Harry admired and asked "Are they even legal?"

During the same day, as he took part in a sporting event alongside three cricketing legends, Harry was photographed without the bracelet he shares with Miss Markle and had instead swapped it for a white, green and brown piece of jewellery.

Britain's Prince Harry, left, watches a group of children play cricket at the Sir Vivian Richards cricket grounds in Antigua and Barbuda. Photo / AP
Britain's Prince Harry, left, watches a group of children play cricket at the Sir Vivian Richards cricket grounds in Antigua and Barbuda. Photo / AP

When he arrived at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on the island, Harry was greeted by Sir Viv himself as well as West Indies cricketers Sir Curtly Ambrose and Sir Andy Roberts.

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And despite most of the crowd being fixated on meeting the prince, when he shook hands with cricketing legend Sir Viv, yesterday (MON), it appeared Harry was meeting a hero of his own.

After being greeted by the sports star, Harry joked that he should be "kneeling?" himself.

And then, as he moved onto West Indies player Sir Curtly Ambrose, the fifth in line to the throne playfully told the 6ft 7 cricketer: "You've shrunk a bit".

The former bowler, whose height allowed him to make a ball bounce unusually high, has been ranked one of the world's tallest cricketers.

As Prince Harry took to the pitch, Sir Curtly's verdict was that his game was "OK".

He added: "It seemed to me like he's played cricket before - watching his stance and the way he hit the ball it looked to me like he'd played some sort of cricket."

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The prince exchanged loafers for trainers and watched seven different sports, playing tennis, golf, netball and volleyball along the way.

Britain's Prince Harry, center, plays volleyball with a group of youths at the Sir Vivian Richards cricket grounds in Antigua and Barbuda. Photo / AP
Britain's Prince Harry, center, plays volleyball with a group of youths at the Sir Vivian Richards cricket grounds in Antigua and Barbuda. Photo / AP

He was presented with a signed bat before hitting several applause-worthy shots in front of a crowd of children wearing t-shirts bearing a picture of him.

Luckily the sun went in as the prince, who is known for his sporting skills and played cricket at Eton, jogged around the stadium.

The Prime Minister's four-year-old son, Prince, also ran up to take a picture with Harry and said he was excited to meet 'a real prince'.

Harry left the stadium under a guard of honour made up of cricket bats.

At a charity event later, Miguel Nation, 23, a hospital technician, presented a picture of himself meeting Prince Harry in pencil and charcoal.

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The prince grinned and laughed at the piece of art but when he was told it had a £500 price tag, he moved his hand in a gesture suggesting that the painting was a bit pricey.

Mr Nation said: "It took me about four days to do it. He loved it. I'm hoping it will get me recognition."

He will spend a total of two weeks touring the Caribbean after being asked to attend on behalf of the Queen who no longer travels long-haul.

Today, he will travel to Barbuda where he enjoyed one of the last holidays with his mother in 1997.

Britain's Prince Harry, left, talks to a youngster at the Charities Showcase event in the tropical grounds of Government House in St John's, Antigua and Barbuda. Photo / AP
Britain's Prince Harry, left, talks to a youngster at the Charities Showcase event in the tropical grounds of Government House in St John's, Antigua and Barbuda. Photo / AP

The prince is likely to spend much of his time reminiscing about the happy memories of Princess Diana shaped just months before she died.

On Sunday, tourism minister Ascot Michael told him: "As a child you visited with your dear mother, the beloved Princess Diana, who graced our islands with her presence, her beauty and her charm."

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Harry's 15-day Caribbean tour will take him to six countries where the Queen is head of state - Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines - and the Commonwealth nation of Guyana.

Meanwhil, girlfriend Markle is filming the latest season of 'Suits', in which she plays flirty trainee lawyer Rachel Zane in the US series Suits and frequently appears in racy scenes along with co-star Patrick J Adams.

The glamorous American returned to the set after a swift stop-off in the UK where she was said to have stayed with Harry in Kensington, London.

It is believed the Suits actress stayed with Harry at Harry's bijou Kensington Palace home, Nottingham Cottage. She is yet to be pictured with the prince.

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