Prince Harry Brings His Gun Show to Paralympics—but Who Snubbed Kate Middleton?!

Royal rogue is back out following his naked scandal fallout, turning up for a second day at the Aquatics Centre...but which athlete refused to shake the duchess' hand?

By Gina Serpe Sep 04, 2012 2:55 PMTags
Prince HarryHannah Johnston/Getty Images

Wait a minute, did Prince Harry's fellow spectators get tickets to the Paralympics or the gun show? Both, from the looks of things. Talk about a two-fer.

Fresh from his kid-ribbing day of appearances—his first since his naked Las Vegas photo scandal rocked the global headlines—the royal rogue managed to overcome his debilitating shyness (ahem) and was back out at London's Aquatics Centre (he just can't stay away from a pool, can he?) cheering on Team GB at both swimming freestyle finals and goalball, a sport that requires the complete silence of its audience.

And aside from what we suspect were a few telltale camera clicks, they got it.

Harry, who clutched a blue goalball on his lap while watching the game (sight-impaired competitors are blindfolded for the game and listen for a bell inside the ball, which allows them to judge where the play is on the court at any given moment), donned a Team GB tracksuit for the occasion and gave the winning British team a standing ovation after their win. Prior to watching the match, he cheered on teen swimming sensation Ellie Simmonds, more or less the poster girl of GB's Paralympics team, who also successfully qualified for the gold medal 50m freestyle race.

Afterward, he gamely proved that one sour incident hasn't rendered him completely camera-shy, and proceeded to good-naturedly pose with athletes for a whopping 45 minutes in the stands.

Meanwhile, Harry wasn't the only royal out for the games, as Kate Middleton handed out the medals for the discus competition on Saturday. However, silver medalist Mehrdad Karam Zadeh, from Iran, declined to shake her hand on the podium after she'd draped the honor around his neck. But despite the potential for awkwardness, Kate kept calm and carried on.

The duchess was informed prior to the awards ceremony that many male athletes from Islamic countries do not shake hands with women to whom they are not related in public. Middleton was aware of this well in advance and thus remained unfazed by the slight, instead releasing a statement saying how she "was honored" to take part in the awards ceremony.

Now there's that grace and poise we've come to know and love.