The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s popularity could be waning after a trio of unsettling events, experts on a royal podcast have suggested.
Two royal editors at The Times, Roya Nikkhah and Kate Mansey, speaking on a podcast titled ‘The Royals with Roya and Kate‘ talked about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s recent setbacks.
Kate said: “The tide does seem to be turning, you know. Obviously, we’ve had the former Spotify exec come out and say that they were grifters. We’ve had that South Park episode, in which… you know, even worse than being criticised, they were ridiculed.
She elaborated: “You know, they were prince and princess of Canada on their Worldwide Privacy Tour, and I think that, you know, that… there were reports they were going to sue South Park over that…”
The comments refer to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle being alluded to in a South Park episode in February 2023. The South Park episode titled ‘The Worldwide Privacy Tour’, portrays the ‘Prince of Canada and his wife’ seeking seclusion.
The royal editor further commented Harry has become as “unloved a figure in the United States as he is in Britain”.
Following the South Park episode where the royals were supposedly mocked for wanting the public to respect their privacy, the royal duo have also been ridiculed for their work ending abruptly with Spotify.
In a statement both Spotify and Archewell Audio, Harry and Meghan’s production company, said they had mutually agreed to part ways, but there were soon concerns that the streaming giant had been unimpressed with the couple’s lack of output, as only 12 episodes of Meghan’s podcast Archetypes were ever released.
One Spotify executive, Bill Simmons, following the news of the departure said of the pair: “I wish I had been involved in the ‘Meghan and Harry leave Spotify’ negotiation. The F***ing Grifters. That’s the podcast we should have launched with them.”
In the US “grifters” is a term used to describe someone who engages in petty swindling or low-level deception.
Thirdly, Prince Harry‘s choice to accept the Pat Tillman Award for his work with the Invictus Games has been met with criticism, especially since Pat Tillman’s mother, Mary, remarked that “there are recipients that are far more fitting”.
Harry received the Pat Tillman Award for Service, awarded by sports channel ESPN to individuals in the sporting world who have made significant contributions to the lives of others.
Harry co-founded the Invictus Games in 2014 as an international injured, sick and wounded veterans sports tournament.
But Harry’s nomination was met by a furious backlash, with a petition, counting just below 77,000 signatures, being set up urging the awards organisers to rethink their decision. Mary Tillman – the mother of Pat, who is a former NFL player and US Army Ranger who was killed in Afghanistan in 2004 and who the awards are named after – saying she was was “shocked” at Harry’s nomination.
ESPN, however, said Harry was being honoured for his “tireless work in making a positive impact for the veteran community through the power of sport”.