Jenna Bush Hager revealed an interesting anecdote during a conversation about sunglasses on Today. During the chat, Jenna revealed that she thinks sunglasses ruined a matchmaking attempt she made a few years ago. Who was she trying to set up? None other than her then-single twin sister, Barbara Bush, and Prince Harry.
Prince Harry was still single when he sat down with Jenna for an interview in Orlando in 2016. They were there to talk about the Invictus Games when the light-eyed prince asked if they could wear sunglasses for the interview in the Florida sun. Jenna agreed, understanding how light eyes are more sensitive to sunlight. She later regretted the decision, however, as she felt it presented a "barrier between us."
The topic of Harry's love life came up during the interview. The prince laughed off speculation about his status, proclaiming he was single. Jenna mentioned her single sister, which Harry was receptive to talking about. However, the intro never happened. Just two months later, Harry met a very special someone — the woman who would become his wife, Meghan Markle.
A conversation about sunglasses turned into an opportunity for Today host and former first daughter Jenna Bush Hager to tell an interesting story. She spoke about a matchmaking attempt she made back in 2016.
Jenna has told stories before about her matchmaking attempts back when twin sister Barbara Bush was single. In 2016, she tried to set her twin up with none other than Prince Harry, a bachelor himself at the time.
Jenna interviewed Harry back in 2016 when the prince was stateside doing work with the Invictus Games. The interview took place in sunny Orlando. It was so sunny, in fact, that Harry requested that they wear sunglasses for the interview.
“He has really beautiful light eyes, which are sensitive to the sun. I know because my daughters have light eyes,” Jenna explained on Today. "Prince Harry was like, 'We have to wear sunglasses, don’t you think?' I was like, 'Well, if he says it’s okay!'"
Jenna later regretted wearing shades, as she thought it put a "barrier between us." She also added, "I felt like maybe if he could see straight into my eyes. That could have worked if my sunglasses weren’t blocking."
Jenna asked Harry about his love life during the interview. "Does it make you laugh that people are already asking you about children? I mean, it’s sort of jumping ahead a couple steps," she asked the prince, who was single at the time.
"Everybody’s always asking me," Harry replied. "I have no idea. I haven’t even got a girlfriend at the moment," he laughed. That's when Jenna decided to plug her single sister: "I have a single sister, and she feels the same way. Listen, she’s available. She’s going to kill me."
Harry joked about taking the conversation off-air. Jenna replied by joking about slipping him Barbara's number. Of course, Barbara scolded her sister for embarrassing her with the mention, but Jenna didn't think the idea was so far-fetched.
"You know, my parents were set up on a blind date so if I could set my sister up … and Prince Harry’s a great guy," she told People. "I mean, the work that he does with the Invictus Games is so important." It was worth a shot!
Jenna was just doing what she thought a good sister would do. "And then I couldn’t help, when he said he was single, to throw my sister under the bus — just like sisters do," Jenna explained. "Frankly, I think that I was doing her a favor. She was humiliated. But I think she also got a kick out of it."
Of course, everything happens for a reason. Sunglasses may have foiled Barbara and Harry's chances at a happily ever after, but they both found their way to one nonetheless. Harry met Meghan Markle just two months after his interview with Jenna.
Without Harry and Meghan linking up, we wouldn't have the newest bundle of joy in the royal family. Just a few weeks before the couple celebrated their first wedding anniversary, they welcomed son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.
Things worked out wonderfully for Barbara as well. She and husband Craig Coyne married in Maine last October. They decided to wed there so that her grandfather, former President George H.W. Bush, could attend. He died just over a month later.
Jenna's days of matchmaking for her sister may be behind her, but surely she has some single friends she can work her magic on when she isn't busy preparing for baby No. 3. If not, she'll need to wait until those little girls of hers grow up!
