Prince Harry cheers on England rugby team... without girlfriend Meghan Markle

Support: Prince Harry and Charlene, Princess of Monaco
PA
Mark Chandler12 November 2016

Prince Harry arrived at Twickenham to cheer on the England rugby team, but he watched on without Meghan Markle.

There had been feverish speculation the Prince would make a first public outing with his actress girlfriend, who stars in hit US drama Suits.

Bookies had slashed their odds that the pair would be seen together to watch the squad take on South Africa after Ms Markle was spotted in London on Thursday.

Instead, Harry watched the match alongside Princess Charlene of Monaco.

Sombre: Prince Harry lays a Poppy Wreath ahead of the Autumn International
PA

It came after he laid a poppy wreath ahead of Remembrance Sunday.

Ahead of the game, he was handed an "amazing" poppy made out of a First World War German artillery shell emblazoned with his name and military number.

Harry had just visited and laid a wreath at the grounds commemorative rose and poppies gates, installed by the Rugby Football Union to remember those killed in the First World War, when the designer presented him with the gift.

Taken aback, Harry could be heard telling the artist, Harry Gray, who made him the extra poppy: "That is amazing, thank you very, very much."

Rugby: Prince Harry looks on from the stands before the match
REUTERS

Mr Gray said: "He really liked it. He said he spent 10 years trying to forget his service number and I had just reminded him of it."

Alongside his number and name, the piece also features the original firing pin and details of where it was manufactured, and mirrors the same design of the poppies on the gates.

"My idea was to take the English rose and through a series of changes transform that into a poppy in the way the First World War team changed into soldiers," Mr Gray said of his design.

At the foot of the gates there are 15 roses which are copies of those which appeared on the 1914 England shirt - these give rise into poppies made from the brass shells fired by German artillery into the Allied trenches.

Last week, the 32-year-old Prince made an emotional appeal for the pair to be left in peace and hit out at racist and sexist abuse she had received.

In a strongly-worded statement issued through Kensington Palace, he said Miss Markle has been the “subject to a wave of abuse and harassment” including a torrent of racist and sexist slurs by “social media trolls”.

The pair are said to have been dating for several months but have not been seen in public together.

The Prince took his last girlfriend Cressida Bonas to an England-Wales match in March 2014, sitting with her in the stands among other spectators.

He was also photographed a number of times with long-term love Chelsy Davy at Twickenham watching the national side.

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