Prince Harry’s surprise Stephen Colbert skit is another ’embarrassment’ – and a sign that he and Meghan have completely lost their way as they ‘chase celebrity’ across the Atlantic, one of the UK’s leading PR gurus has said.
The Duke of Sussex’s ‘painful’ jokes on The Late Show about Donald Trump failed to land and the novelty of a British prince in America has ‘worn off’ some time ago, Mark Borkowski 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’.
Last 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, broadcast in the US last night. 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.
Last night’s visit 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 canceled,’ 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 reenacted 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.
In it Harry does a cringeworthy and bizarre lip sync video with Colbert where they aped stars of The Great British Bake Off, which is broadcast on Netflix as The Great British Baking Show in the US.
Harry was British Brummie TV host Alison Hammond while Colbert was mimicking baker Mark Lutton.
In the scene, from the New Year’s Day special in 2024, Hammond mistakenly thought Lutton was telling her to “beg for me”.
When she asked him what he would want her to do if he was “king for the day” Lutton, replied: “Bake for me, probably.”
However, Hammond misheard him and appeared shocked when she said: “You’d want me to do what? Beg?”
Lutton repeated back to her: “Bake! B-A-K-E,” prompting Hammond to reply: “Oh bake!”, and erupt into giggles.
In the lip-sync clip, Colbert takes on the role of misunderstood baker Lutton, while Harry hams it up with suggestive eyebrow wiggling, wide eyes and hysterical laughter.
The clip was also re-posted by the Duchess of Sussex on Instagram, hours after the release of the holiday special of her Netflix show.
Neither she nor Prince Harry made any mention of Meghan’s father, who it was revealed was in intensive care following emergency surgery.
The Duke of Sussex has previously appeared on Colbert’s show in 2023, while also making guest spots on Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show and James Corden’s now canceled Late Late Show.
Markle posted a brief clip of her husband and Colbert to her Instagram feed but made no mention of her ailing father.
On Wednesday, it was revealed Markle’s estranged father Thomas was reportedly in intensive care in the Philippines after undergoing three hours of surgery after falling ill at home.
Thomas Markle, 81, who has been estranged from his daughter since her 2018 marriage to Prince Harry, was rushed to hospital on Tuesday after being taken gravely ill at home.
He underwent around three hours of surgery during Wednesday and today remains in the intensive care unit. He now faces a second procedure to remove a blood clot.
This week’s medical crisis unfolded as Prince Harry made a paid speech to a group of estate agents in Canada ahead of his trip to New York, while Meghan released her holiday edition of her Netflix show ‘With Love, Meghan’ in which she stressed the importance of family and friends.
