On September 25th, 2021, Facebook user Gerald Newman published a 29 second-long video depicting Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s visit to New York. The video showcases how the royal family members, together with some other people, pose in front of the camera without wearing face masks. In the video description, Gerald Newman writes that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle only wear facemasks only in front of the “representatives of the COVID religion.”
The Facebook account spreads the video of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle manipulatively. In fact, the video shows the couple taking a picture while visiting the World Trade Center in New York when their facemasks were temporarily removed in front of the camera. Other videos depicting the exact moment show that before and after the photo was taken, both Harry and Meghan, as well as all their companions, put their facemask back on again.
The video shared by Gerald Newman is a short snippet of a video released by Agence France-Presse on September 23rd, 2021, which features Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, his family, and New York Governor Katie Hochul at the World Trade Center. As can be seen in the AFP footage, all the people participating in the tour have worn Facemasks inside the building and removed them only while taking a picture, as part of the initiative of the photographer. After taking the photo, they put their face mask back on again and continued the tour.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle visited the New York World Trade Center on September 23rd, 2021, as part of their tour of New York. Currently, it is mandatory to wear a facemask in crowded and enclosed spaces in New York.
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