During the bit of bloody biff known as the War of 1812, British forces burnt down much of Washington DC, including the executive mansion. Adios, original White House.
It was a deeply symbolic and emotionally redolent moment, a strike at the heart of the fledgling, upstart nation by the dastardly, gouty Prince Regent – the US’ pride and nascent sense of national identity badly dinged.
Now, 200-plus years later, the Limeys are at it again. This week, new polling released by Gallup revealed just who is the number one, favourite public figure for Americans – and like back then, a Brit has beaten out myriad figures who bleed Stars and Stripes.
The number one leader adored by the United States? Prince William.
Let that sink in.
The 41-year-old future King beat out President Volodymyr Zelensky, members of the US Supreme Court, both President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr Jill Biden, King Charles, Vice President Kamala Harris – and even the man the world most wants to see in an orange jumpsuit, Donald Trump.
At another time in history, this new poll would just make for some sort of pithy think piece, except for the fact that the US has their own skin in the royal game, so to speak, after becoming the new Jerusalem for royal rebels Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
The Sussexes have spent the last three and a half years embracing that corker of a line from the Declaration of Independence – “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” – but this week, they have been beaten on their home turf by none other than Aitch’s dog bowl-destroying brother.
That’s gotta hurt.
The irony here is the bitterest: Harry left a country and an institution where he was permanently held in second place to his older brother, moved 8500 kilometres away from home, crossed an ocean and a continent and gave up nearly his entire former life, only to find … William is also beating him in his new, adopted homeland.
Now, to be fair, this Gallup poll only included a select number of world leaders and big names and it’s not known if Harry featured at all – but even if he did not, then that is telling too.
The bottom line here – after years of trying, Americans have not exactly wholeheartedly embraced the duke and duchess. The nation is not exactly clutching the Palace escapees to their bosom and doing some tender hair-stroking.
The thing about these Gallup numbers is that they are nearly the same for both Democrats and Republicans, thus giving both William and Charles a surprising degree of bipartisan support.
According to the poll, 65 per cent of those on the right have a favourable view of William, with 63 per cent on the left saying the same thing. It’s a similar situation when we get to the King: 50 per cent of Republicans and 49 per cent of Democrats think he’s just swell.
It is impossible to see how this Gallup news could not be a bit of an ego-deflator; a bit of a blow for the Sussexes given they have used interviews, an entire TV series and Harry’s big book of sad family stories to take aim at the royal family and specifically William.
While throughout all of this Charles has generally come out looking like a weak, ineffectual father who was hellbent on having his wife, now Queen Camilla, accepted, even at the expense of his sons, it is William who is put up as the real baddie.
In the last year, Harry has accused his brother of physically attacking him, of leaving him “terrified” after “screaming and shouting” at him during the Sandringham Summit and of being left “heartbroken” after William’s office allegedly leaked to the press.
And yet even after the duke has levelled these serious allegations about the heir to the throne, even after Harry has embraced Fourth of July parades, even after only ever energetically enthused about living in the United States and finding an ally in Oprah Winfrey, here we have Americans picking his supposedly dastardly brother over him.
Maybe the answer to why this is lies in the fact that the image crafted by “Willy” and his wife Kate, the Princess of Wales is one of painfully wholesome family values, which plays superbly well in the US, or maybe there is something about the Sussexes’ having monetised family strife that sits badly with Americans.
What makes this even more of a blow is that this polling comes even with the accusations and charges of Harry & Meghan and Spare still relatively fresh in the public memory.
If this is the way things stand now, less than a year on from the beginning of the great Sussex onslaught, then it’s hard to see this trend reversing any time soon.
Poor Aitch. It has been quite the mixed bag of a week.
The duke has been in Japan for a sports summit and will be in Singapore this weekend for a charity polo tournament, all the while smiling so excitedly you’d think he’d gotten a lifelong free ticket to Disneyland.
Elsewhere, the news has been less rosy.
Camilla finally found the password to the Buckingham Palace WordPress account and someone has updated the royal family’s official online presence, with Harry and Meghan losing their stylings as His/Her Royal Highnesses from their official web pages. (Years, that is, after Her late Majesty made the official call on the matter).
The Sussex career rollercoaster has also continued its dipping and diving, with Page Six reporting that it was Netflix, and not the royal duo’s Archewell Productions, which had paid about $4.5 million for the rights to the bestseller, Meet Me At The Lake.
There is also the surprising fact that while Harry was coming to grips with using chopsticks in Japan and Singapore, Meghan was back in California, with the duchess reportedly attending Taylor Swift’s Eras concert in Los Angeles in a move that will do nothing to quell rumours of problems at home.
(To be clear, there is no firm evidence that the Sussexes are anything but lovey-dovey, with Harry’s pal and polo star Nacho Figueras posting a photo of he and Harry in Tokyo wearing sunglasses and captioned “Shopping for our wives”).
So, William’s got US fans coming out of his blessedly non-jug ears, Meghan’s having a boogie to Shake It Off and Harry’s HRH is now boxed up in the Palace attic.
At least dumplings, ramen and chilli crab are always good for the soul.
Daniela Elser is a writer, editor and a royal commentator with more than 15 years’ experience working with a number of Australia’s leading media titles.