Outrage As Prince Harry Supposedly 'Steals The Spotlight' From Prince Louis' Birthday

On April 23, Prince Louis celebrated his eighth birthday, but his uncle used the date to go on a splashy surprise visit to Ukraine. At the Kyiv Security Forum, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, called on President Donald Trump to support the country just days before King Charles III's scheduled meeting with the American leader. "This is a moment for American leadership, a moment for America to show that it can honor its international treaty obligations, not out of charity, but out of its enduring role in global security and strategic stability," he said (via ABC News).

The internet didn't forget that all of this was taking place on Louis' special day. "So Prince Harry made sure to look relevant on his nephew's birthday! Ha!" an X user slammed. Others agreed that the youngest child of William and Catherine, Prince and Princess of Wales, deserved to have his birthday honored. "So Harry is trying to steal the spotlight from his nephew, Prince Louis, on his 8th birthday? What a POS," another netizen tweeted.

Others accused the Duke of Sussex of purposefully going out of his way to draw attention away from the royal family. "We all know harry is jealous of his former family & with do anything to steal the headlines from the royals," another X user wrote. Harry's true intentions with his Ukraine visit are unknown, but he was a keynote speaker at the event and presumably played no role in setting the. But it didn't make him look good, nonetheless.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, may not be close with his birth family anymore, but that wasn't always the case. Before he left the U.K. for California with Meghan Markle in January 2020, Harry was a loving uncle to his nieces and nephews. In 2017, he even showed he had no hard feelings about losing his spot in the line of succession. "The reason I am now fifth is because of my nephew and niece and I could never wish them away. They are the most amazing things ever," he told the Daily Mail.

After Harry's feud with William, Prince of Wales, he lost touch with Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. But he was once super close with them. Members of the royal family raved about Harry's ways with kids, highlighting his playfulness and attentiveness. "Harry, he's busy, but he loves playing with them all," Mike Tindall, Zara Tindall's husband, told The Telegraph in 2019. As the oldest, George was reportedly the one who missed his uncle the most after Megxit.

Mike has reportedly stepped into the role. "George's original 'fun uncle' and adult playmate did that infamous bolt to the US, leaving a huge Harry-shaped gap in the young boy's life that Mike has more than filled," body language expert Judi James told the Mirror in 2025. Even though Harry has had limited contact with the kids, royal insiders believe he was likely to send presents on Louis's birthday. "Despite everything that's happened, the issues have never been with the children," former royal butler Grant Harrold told Reach (via Mirror).