A shocking new video has emerged showing Prince Harry appearing disoriented and “worse for wear” during a pre-Christmas holiday in Aspen, Colorado, without his wife Meghan Markle or their two children. The footage, capturing the Duke of Sussex on a boys’ trip with close friend and polo player Nacho Figueras, has ignited immediate controversy and fresh scrutiny over the state of his marriage and his personal judgment just days before the holiday season.
The video shows Harry looking notably blurry-eyed and unsteady, raising questions about his condition and decision to be photographed in such a state. His solo holiday, occurring so close to a time Meghan has previously emphasized as family-centric, has drawn criticism for the optics of distancing himself from his immediate family. In a seemingly pointed response, Meghan later posted a brief, cryptic Instagram story featuring only the words “Oh, hello.”
Royal commentator Tom Sykes, editor of The Royalist on Substack, analyzed the troubling visuals. “He certainly looked a bit blur-eyed in that video,” Sykes stated, noting public speculation that Harry had “partied a little bit too hard.” The incident follows previous appearances where Harry has also been perceived as looking out of sorts, including at a recent Kardashian family event.
The controversy is compounded by Harry’s own past admissions regarding drug use, detailed in his memoir “Spare” and in interviews. He has spoken openly about using cocaine and psychedelic mushrooms, once describing drugs as beneficial for his mental health—a stance critics like Sykes label “incredibly irresponsible” for a prominent mental health campaigner. “We know that heavy use of cannabis and these other drugs can trigger psychosis,” Sykes added, highlighting the legal complexities surrounding cannabis use in California, the couple’s home state.
The Aspen trip stands in stark contrast to the carefully managed public image of other senior royals. On the same day, the Prince and Princess of Wales released a harmonious family photograph for their Christmas card, underscoring a widening divergence in public presentation. Observers note that Harry appears most relaxed and jovial in the company of old friends like Figueras, a dynamic less frequently seen in his public outings with Meghan.
This personal controversy unfolds against a backdrop of continued professional turbulence for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Archewell production company. In a single week, two new film projects were announced—an adaptation of “Meet Me at the Lake” and the novel “The Wedding Date”—despite a notable lack of delivered content from their multi-million dollar deal with Netflix. Industry sources suggest the partnership’s endurance may hinge on the potential development of a project related to Harry’s mother, Princess Diana.
“The business strategy, the PR strategy is just all over the place,” said one commentator, pointing to the dissonance between their commercial actions and their public advocacy. This includes Harry’s vehement criticism of social media companies, which clashed with Meghan’s use of Instagram to promote a documentary featuring young children shortly after they called for greater online protections for youth.
The family strain extends beyond the royal dynamic. Meghan’s fraught relationship with her father, Thomas Markle, has reached a new nadir following his emergency leg amputation. Reports revealed that Meghan’s team demanded her hospitalized father be filmed receiving a letter from her to prove it reached him, an act described as “creepy and weird.” The letter’s contents, later briefed by Meghan’s team to The Sunday Times, allegedly contained a “tirade” attacking him for past media interviews, with no offer of reconciliation.
This response was characterized as particularly cruel given Thomas Markle’s critical health condition and stands in contrast to the late Queen Elizabeth’s reported earlier advice for Meghan to personally reconcile with her father. “It’s just an unbelievably stupid thing to say to the media,” Sykes remarked on the handling of the situation, which has painted Meghan as heartless in the eyes of many critics.
The cumulative effect of these events paints a picture of a couple struggling with conflicting personal and professional narratives. From Harry’s isolated holiday and past drug admissions to Meghan’s intractable family rift and their disjointed public strategy, the Sussexes face mounting questions about their future direction. The video from Aspen is not merely a snapshot of a private holiday but a potent symbol of the ongoing and very public unraveling of the meticulously crafted “Megxit” project, leaving observers to wonder how the couple reconciles their stated desires for privacy and normalcy with a lifestyle that continues to generate global headlines and intense scrutiny.
