King Charles and Prince William will be ‘horrified’ by Prince Harry’s antics on US TV – not just because it was humiliating but because he cracked ‘dangerous’ jokes at the expense of Donald Trump, it was claimed today.
The Duke of Sussex made a surprise appearance on Stephen Colbert’s Late Show on Wednesday in a sketch about him auditioning to be a ‘handsome prince’ in a schmalzy Hallmark Christmas movie.
He was cheered wildly by the audience, who even stood to applaud him when he appeared on stage and declared that Americans are ‘obsessed with royals’.
But a stilted gag about America having electing a king in Donald Trump – a dig at the President because of the ‘No Kings’ left-wing protests in October – sparked pantomime boos.
A joke criticising CBS for settling a ‘baseless’ lawsuit with the President also failed to land in the six-minute skit that was branded ’embarrassment’ and ‘needy’.
Harry’s decision to ‘meddle’ in US politics by lampooning the Leader of the Free World will have caused absolute dismay at the Palace, just months after they hosted Mr Trump for a state visit in September, one of the UK’s leading royal experts have said.
Veteran journalist Phil Dampier, author of Harry and Meghan In Their Own Words. said: ‘The King, Prince William and courtiers will be horrified [by his TV appearance].
‘Most dangerous of all were his jokes about Trump. The royals can’t start meddling in US politics without dangers and he should have steered clear of the subject’.
Mr Dampier says the TV appearance is a sign Harry ‘doesn’t care anymore’ about royal protocol – so should lose be stripped of his titles like his errant uncle Andrew.
‘Harry is now a showbiz Hollywood celebrity, not a royal. As such he should lose his titles and be removed from the line of succession, then he could do whatever the pleased and no-one could complain’, he said.
‘The idea that he can come back to the UK and carry out some royal duties is now shot to pieces.
‘He is in California for the rest of his life and he’s totally been taken over by his wife’s world’.
Mr Dampier said the timing is also unfortunate because around the same time the Daily Mail revealed that Thomas Markle was having life-saving surgery.
Mr Markle has had to have his left leg amputated below the knee due to a blood clot, the Mail revealed today.
‘His bit of fun came at a time when his father-in-law is gravely ill, a man he has never met’, Mr Dampier said.
His giddy performance on The Late Show shows the novelty of a British prince in America has ‘worn off’ some time ago, PR guru Mark Borkowski has said.
His TV appearance was broadcast as the Daily Mail exclusively revealed that Meghan Markle’s estranged father Thomas is fighting for his life in intensive care in the Philippines after undergoing emergency surgery.
‘Harry’s Colbert skit isn’t “embarrassing” because he’s chasing US celebrity, it’s embarrassing because he’s doing it badly’, Mr Borkowski said.
‘Making fun of your own privilege only works when the audience believes you’ve transcended it. Harry hasn’t. The jokes land like a man reminding you of a punchline that expired three years ago.
‘He keeps leaning on the same tired “I’m a prince but not that kind of prince” shtick, as if self-deprecation can launder the monarchy off him. It can’t. In America, the novelty wore off the minute Netflix lost interest’.
Mr Borkowski says the TV appearance shows that Harry has found himself in an ‘identity vacuum’ since walking away from the Royal Family.
‘What we’re seeing is the classic identity vacuum of a man who walked out of the royal machine without building a new one to stand in. Every skit, every podcast cameo, every crowd-pleasing wisecrack is an attempt to reverse-engineer a persona the public never actually asked for’, he said.
‘His problem is painfully simple. You can’t reinvent yourself while still selling tickets to the old you. He wants to be “just Harry,” but every beat of the joke depends on the audience knowing he isn’t pushing’.
He went on: ‘It’s all got a bit… thirsty. The party circuits. The strategic handshakes. It appears he only sees fame through Instagram Reels. The famous don’t mind being mocked they fear being ignored. Harry’s skating worryingly close to the latter’.
On Wednesday night Prince Harry popped up in New York to make a surprise, toe-curling appearance on Stephen Colbert’s Late Show.
In a light-hearted display he mocked Donald Trump by claiming America had ‘elected a king’, sparking pantomime boos from the audience.
The Duke of Sussex lampooned the President with a reference to the ‘No Kings’ left-wing protests, which saw millions march in New York, Washington DC, Chicago, Miami and Los Angeles in October in opposition to Trump and his administration.
Delivering a series of awkward jokes, Harry also criticised CBS for settling a ‘baseless’ lawsuit with the President and claimed the US are ‘obsessed with royalty’.
He also delivered a gag about King George III, Harry’s great great great great great grandfather whose reign saw the loss of the American colonies in 1783, and said Colbert should ‘let it go’ when the host called the late monarch ‘a jerk’.
The royal had joined the liberal comedian, who has been an outspoken critic of Harry’s family, for a Christmas sketch about being a prince in a Hallmark movie.
There was no traditional interview and viewers admitted cringing when some of Harry’s deadpan jokes failed to land.
He acted desperately as he said he would ‘do anything’ as he begged to be in the Hallmark movie, saying he can ride a horse, fly a helicopter and admitted he had showbiz connections including a wife who was once a famous TV star.
Artificial snow then began to fall as the Duke joked about him being a ‘handsome prince’ and how Colbert had to ‘just believe’, before the host told him he had ‘got the role’ of ‘official Late Show prince of Christmas’ to cheers from the crowd.
Meghan Markle had trailed her husband’s Wednesday night appearance on the Late Show on Instagram. The clip showed Harry recreating a Great British Bake Off meme with a lip-sync video.
On the Late Show, Stephen Colbert was discussing the trend of Christmas movies with corny titles.
Colbert’s other guests were Academy Award nominee Michael Shannon and Irish actress and singer Jessie Buckley.
There were gasps when Harry popped up behind him to joke that he was there to audition for the part.
The duke then wandered through the studio, joking that he has become lost while searching for an audition for the ‘Gingerbread Christmas Prince saves Christmas in Nebraska’.
A flurry of awkward jokes followed, including some potshots at Donald Trump and also CBS’ decision to pay $16million (£13.5m) to settle a legal dispute with the President.
There was also a gag about the broadcaster’s cancellation of the Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
It was the duke’s second Late Show appearance, having last appeared in January 2023 to promote his controversial memoir Spare.
Harry walked on to the Late Show to cheers and then a standing ovation at The Ed Sullivan Theatre in New York.
Colbert was discussing Christmas movies with jokey titles like The Gingerbread Prince Saves Christmas in a Basket.
‘Excuse me, Stephen?’ Harry said after meekly walking on stage to a chorus of applause at The Ed Sullivan Theater.
The pair shook hands as Colbert introduced him to the audience in his full title: ‘Folks, it’s Prince Henry Charles Albert David of Wales Sussex. What are you doing here?’
‘Sorry, I genuinely thought this was the audition for The Gingerbread Prince Saves Christmas in a Basket,’ he cracked.
Colbert replied: ‘You’re an actual prince, why would you want to be in one of those movies?’
Prince Harry quipped: ‘Well, you Americans are obsessed with Christmas movies and you’re clearly obsessed with royalty, so why not?
‘Hold on, hold on, look, I wouldn’t say we’re obsessed with royalty,’ Colbert claimed.
‘Really? I heard you elected a king,’ the prince joked, producing howls and boos from the CBS comic’s liberal audience.
‘You’ve got a point,’ replied Colbert.
‘And after making such a big deal of my great great great great great grandfather George III,’ he added.
‘Well he was kind of a jerk,’ Colbert said.
Prince Harry replied: ‘Let it go.’
The prince carried on with the sketch, stating his credentials for appearing in a holiday film.
‘So what’s a prince got to do to get into a Hallmark movie these days? I’ve got skills. I can ride a horse, I can fly a helicopter, I can ride a horse in a helicopter!’
Colbert then replied with a reference to his actress wife.
‘This is showbusiness, it’s about who you know. I mean, do you have a personal connection to any famous TV actresses?’
‘I might know one,’ the prince deadpanned, before mocking Colbert’s employers at CBS paying out a lawsuit from Donald Trump over a deceptively edited interview with Kamala Harris.
‘I’ll do anything,’ he pleaded about his casting in a holiday movie.
‘I’ll record a self-tape, I’ll fly myself to an audition, settle a baseless lawsuit with the White House, all the things you people in TV do.’
‘I didn’t do that,’ pointedly responded Colbert to the $36million settlement his network reached with Trump over a deceptively edited interview with Kamala Harris.
‘Maybe that’s why you were cancelled,’ the prince joked, to great applause.
Prince Harry again promised to do ‘anything’ in return before Colbert said that he had to ‘remind Americans what they love about Christmas.’
‘Okay, Christmas traditions,’ he replied. ‘Putting on jumpers and pulling crackers on Boxing Day.’
Colbert questioned: ‘Are those even real words?’
‘Who am I kidding? I’m never gonna’ be an American hallmark prince and now I’m stuck spending the holiday in your quaint little village of Midtown Manhattan,’ he joked.
The pair then transitioned to a wintry scene as they briefly re-enacted the biggest cliches of Hallmark holiday cinema, with Colbert and Prince Harry embracing at the end.
Harry’s wife Meghan Markle was nowhere to be found, although she did post a cringe-worthy clip of Harry and Colbert performing a meme from the The Great British Bake Off to her Instagram story – hours after the release of her Netflix Christmas special.
