The Archbishop of Canterbury
appeared to stare straight at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle during his funeral
sermon for Queen Elizabeth II Monday — in what many have speculated was a
subtle dig at the estranged royals.
Justin Welby, the religious
head of the Church of England, appeared to look right at the exiled couple as
he damned “those who cling to power and privileges,” numerous royal
watchers highlighted, accusing him of throwing shade.
The archbishop made the biting
comment as he praised the late monarch as one of the “people of loving service”
who “are rare in any walk of life.”
“Leaders of loving service are
still rarer. But in all cases, those who serve will be loved and remembered
when those who cling to power and privileges are forgotten,” he said.
Footage of the sermon appears
to show him staring intently toward the section of Westminster Abbey where
Harry and his wife were sitting behind Harry’s dad, King Charles III.
Harry was also forbidden from wearing his military uniform and from
saluting his grandmother’s coffin during the procession.
Many on Twitter insisted the
religious leader was making a dig at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who have
repeatedly trashed Harry’s family after quitting as senior royals in 2020,
including accusing them of bullying and racism.
“The Archbishop of Canterbury
just called out the whole room for clinging to power and privileges and
basically saying no one will remember any of them because of it,” one
royal watcher tweeted.
“Boss move,” she said, saying
she was “dying of laughter.”
Welby’s sermon went on to call
the late Queen “joyful, present to so many, touching a multitude of lives.”
“We pray especially for all
her family, grieving as every family at a funeral — including so many families
around the world who have themselves lost someone recently — but in this
family’s case, doing so in the brightest spotlight,” he said.
