The Duke and Duchess of Sussex may have shot themselves in the foot with their latest round of revelations, with even America – a nation which has been far more tolerant of their tales of woe – apparently beginning to question the couple’s motives.
In recent days, several of the US’ most high-profile comedians have ridiculed Prince Harry following his series of interviews to spruik his memoir Spare.
And in a worrying turn for Team Sussex, the New York Times has questioned whether the airing of what seem to be increasingly petty grievances are now becoming “repetitive and tiresome,” and damaging their brand.
One US television host said Prince Harry was now “gauche”.
‘Something has changed’
Since the duke and duchess stormed out of Buckingham Palace in 2020, the United States has always seemed to provide them with the succour the pair so desperately craved.
Dazzled by an American at the heart of the Royal Family, every time they sat down in front of the cameras to heap criticism on the House of Windsor they were met with more sympathy than scrutiny from TV hosts and commentators stateside.
But after seemingly months of non-stop interviews, a six-part Netflix series, a podcast and now a book, patience in the US with the couple may be waning.
“Something has changed,” wrote Sarah Lyall, who for 18 years was the New York Times’ London correspondent, in the same paper on Monday.
“Even in the United States, which has a soft spot for royals in exile and a generally higher tolerance than Britain does for redemptive stories about overcoming trauma and family dysfunction, there is a sense that there are only so many revelations the public can stomach.”
Elsewhere in the US media landscape, a previous deference to Harry and Meghan now seems to be, if not over, then wearing thin.
US talk show host Stephen Colbert mocked Harry despite the prince’s upcoming appearance on his talk show on Tuesday night, US time.
In a promo for the show, Colbert said Spare was available as a commemorative plate showing an image of the classic tacky Royal souvenir, and joked that Harry and his brother went to school at Hogwarts.
“Stock up on corgis and steal a priceless cultural treasure from one of your colonies because The Late Show is going imperial,” he quipped.
Colbert’s late night rival Jimmy Kimmel also hasn’t held back, airing a skit re-enacting a camp rendition of Harry’s claims of a fight between him and William but with the pair recast as the late singer Prince.
‘This is never going to end’
Colbert and Kimmel have both seen the funny side to the wave after wave of revelations emanating from the couple from Montecito.
But others in the US seem to be despairing of the whole saga from a privileged couple, swimming in cash, living in a mansion and yet constantly grumbling.
“We’ve all just fallen down some wormhole where we will never be free of hearing every single detail of Prince Harry’s life – and why he believes no one has ever had a worse life than his,” said Meghan McCain, host of US daytime chat show The View.
“This is never going to end. He’s never going to let us live!”
Even Judge Judy has had enough.
Speaking on breakfast show Good Morning Britain, she said she would be “furious” if a child or grandchild of hers had acted in a similar way to Harry and it would be a sign of someone who was “selfish, spoiled,” and “ungrateful”.
“I’d be really hurt, I think anybody with a brain would see that it’s disingenuous, it’s biting the hand that fed you, it’s unseemly.”
In her New York Times article, Lyall questioned what the point was of Harry telling readers about a row with William after Prince Phillip’s funeral, tensions between Meghan and Kate over a lip gloss or him zoning out on drugs.
Why did the world need to know about these episodes?
And then there was the eye-opening recounting of his first sexual experience where the woman he slept with subsequently smacked his bottom – which has also led to jokes at Harry’s expense.
“It’s one thing to be criticised; it’s another to be openly ridiculed,” Lyall wrote.
“More worrying for Harry and Meghan is whether the continued public re-litigation of their troubles has grown so repetitive or even tiresome that it has eroded their personal brand and damaged their potential future earnings.
“Once they have exhausted the topic of themselves, what is left for them to talk about?” she asked.
‘Harry is just gauche’
While Harry and Meghan have taken almost every opportunity to take aim at the Windsors; the Firm in Britain have – at least so far – done the exact opposite and said nothing.
Indeed, earlier this week, King Charles put a message on social media wishing the Princess of Wales a happy birthday. A subtle but sure sign that while some errant family members on the other side of the Pond were determined to harm the family, he was trying to bolster it.
In the US, Harry and Meghan have fans, for sure, but the fear is their ranks may be diminishing as the accusations become more repetitive and trivial.
Even some of the most damning, and arguably important, allegations from the Sussex’s are now being questioned.
Previously the pair talked about an incident from a fellow Royal which led to immediate accusations in the press and elsewhere that the still unnamed person was racist.
The couple have had two years to comment on and clarify these racism accusations. Yet it was only on Monday, almost two years later, that the prince told Good Morning America that it was perhaps more a case of “unconscious bias”.
High profile CNN news anchor Don Lemon pondered on the network last week why Harry was revealing squabbles between family members.
“Everyone has a family, I have arguments in my family.
“Am I going to put that out there for the whole world to see? I don’t understand why on earth he would want to put that out there. I know he’s selling a book, but to me it’s just gauche.”
That the duke and duchess have critics in the UK is not new or a surprise. But that some in the US now seem to be exhausted about their antics will be a new and concerning chapter for them.