Prince Harry and Meghan Markle laugh and smile awkwardly as they’re spotted at LA basketball game

Meghan and Harry joined the stars of NBA basketball last night — but despite her husband’s enthusiasm, the giggling former Suits star refused a kiss as they appeared on the big screen in front of 20,000 fans.

In their first public appearance in months, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex appeared to be on a date night as they watched the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Memphis Grizzlies in game four of the NBA playoffs.

The royal couple, who won’t be attending the coronation together next month, were all smiles in a box at the Crypto.com Arena, where they appeared on the jumbotron at the Crypto.com Arena in downtown LA.

Thousands began clapping and cheering, encouraging them to kiss. Harry then appeared to lean in for a hug, but his wife laughed and grabbed his arm instead of bowing to the crowd. Harry then made a comical grimace.

Their night out comes after Meghan broke cover to introduce her friend photographer Misan Harriman in a video ahead of his Ted Talk.

Her move came after the Duchess hit back at claims she was dodging the coronation, saying she believes the royal family failed to address her “unconscious bias” before the Sussexes left for the US.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were spotted laughing and smiling in their first public appearance since it emerged Prince Harry would attend the King’s coronation without his wife

Meghan claps as Harry stares intently during the third quarter of the NBA playoffs

The Duchess of Sussex’s spokesperson said she is not thinking of “conversations from four years ago” she reportedly wrote to King Charles after the explosive interview she and Harry gave to Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, when they claimed a senior royal had ‘concern’ about how ‘dark’ their unborn son Archie’s skin would be.

Meghan reportedly wrote to Charles in response to a letter he sent her. She wrote about unconscious bias, but said the comment about Archie’s skin was not made with malice. But a source told the Daily Telegraph that the Duchess would not attend the coronation on May 6 because she had received an unsatisfactory response from the King.

But in a statement to Harper’s Bazaar magazine, press secretary Ashley Hansen insisted: ‘The Duchess of Sussex is living her life in the present and is not thinking about correspondence from two years ago in relation to conversations from four years ago.

“Any other suggestion is false and downright ridiculous. We encourage tabloid media and various royal correspondents to stop the exhausting circus they alone are creating.”

Omid Scobie, the Sussexes’ favorite royal reporter, was the first to post Meghan’s press team statement.