Prince Harry has issued a light-hearted apology to Canadians after sparking outrage by wearing a Los Angeles Dodgers cap during a baseball World Series game between the Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays.

Speaking to CTV, a Canadian television station, while wearing a Blue Jays hat, the Duke of Sussex said he had been: “under duress” when he donned the Dodgers gear, explaining that he thought it was: “the polite thing to do” after being invited by the team’s owner. “Firstly, I would like to apologise to Canada for wearing it,” he said. “Secondly, I was under duress. There wasn’t much choice.”

The gesture angered many Canadian fans, who accused him of turning his back on the only Canadian team in Major League Baseball. Prince Harry’s father, King Charles, is Canada’s head of state, adding a touch of diplomatic irony to the controversy.

The prince has said he will wear Blue Jays cap from now on. He sported one again on Thursday while visiting military veterans in Toronto, where he joked that being bald under stadium floodlights left him grateful for any hat.

Harry and Meghan Markle, who lived in Canada before relocating to California in 2020, were also criticised by Dodgers fans for taking front-row seats at the marathon 18-inning game while local icons sat behind them.

The light-hearted storm erupted just as the Duke released an essay titled “What it means to be British,” in which he praised humour and self-deprecation – qualities that, judging by this episode, he may need to call upon once more.