Venus Williams appeared to remain seated during a standing ovation for聽Prince Harry聽at the ESPYs, sparking a heated debate on social media.
Critics of the Duke of Sus饾憼e饾懃 suggested the tennis star had snubbed him, even as her sister,聽Serena Williams, glowed with praise for Harry and聽Meghan Markle聽in her comments as host.
The moment came when Prince Harry was awarded the Pat Tillman Award for Service, following criticism from Tillman’s mother, who said he was too controversial and too privileged.
Supporters of the royal suggested a clip showed Venus in the process of standing just as the camera moved away.聽Newsweek聽understands the sports star did ultimately stand.
The debate lends a sour note to what was otherwise a聽largely successful speech聽by Harry in the face of considerable pressure.
Speculation appeared to start with longstanding Harry and Meghan critic Dan Wootton, a former presenter on GB News.
He wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “Prince Harry accepted the Pat Tillman award at the ESPYs AGAINST the express wishes of the late American war hero’s own mother.
“And he even had the cheek to refer to her in his acceptance speech. The Duke truly has no shame. No wonder Venus Williams stayed in her seat…”
Following his intervention, there was a wave of articles in the mainstream media claiming Venus had snubbed Harry, including U.K. tabloids like the聽Daily Mail聽and the聽Daily Express,聽as well as the聽New York Post.
In the footage, Venus Williams does appear to remain seated as those around her stand and clap Harry onto the stage.
One Harry and Meghan fan argued on X that Venus was in the process of standing as the camera panned away.
They wrote: “Look at the little snippet of footage and you will see Venus Williams in the motion of standing for #PrinceHarry’s standing ovation! suck on lemons #sadlittleman who can’t get his stories right!”
In the very last seconds of the clip, Venus does appear to be moving her arms though it is difficult to be certain whether this was to stand and clap.
The saga follows a similar pattern to some past dramas in which moments of ambiguity have been blown up into claims that a public figure has taken a deliberate swipe at the Sus饾憼e饾懃es by their social media critics.
Those previous scandals haven’t always proven to be as negative as first presented, however.
After Harry and Meghan’s broadly successful tour of Nigeria, the country’s first lady, Oluremi Tinubu,聽gave a speech聽in May about the country’s youth and said: “We don’t accept nakedness in our culture.”
“They are mimicking and trying to emulate film stars from America,” she continued.
“They don’t know where they come from. Why did Meghan come here looking for Africa?”
Critics of Meghan in the West interpreted Tinubu’s words to mean she had been offended by Meghan’s nakedness during her tour of the West African nation.
One clip of the moment went viral on Twitter after it was viewed 880,000 times and liked 4,100 times, however, the First Lady later聽issued a clarification.
Her office told Agence France-Presse on May 30: “She meant Meghan appreciates the people we are and hence her coming here. At no point did she say anything about Meghan’s dressing.”
It may be the public will only get a definitive answer on whether Venus Williams intended any slight towards Harry and Meghan if the athlete breaks her silence.