Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Really Didn’t Expect to Be the Butt of Jokes After Releasing ‘Spare,’ Duchess’s Former Friend Says
Prince Harry did not hold back in his memoir Spare. But following the release of his tell-all book, he and Meghan Markle have become the butt of jokes providing fresh material for comedy sketches and are now “low-hanging fruit” for late night talk show hosts.
According to someone who used to be close with the Duchess of Sussex, this is not what she and her husband expected after telling their story.
Sussexes have been mocked on ‘South Park’ and ‘SNL’
Before the release of Spare, which was ghostwritten by journalist J. R. Moehringer, the Sussexes dropped their six-episode Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan. That, coupled with Harry’s book, has left the couple open to plenty of criticism.
They were mocked during a episode of South Park titled “The World Wide Privacy Tour.” Then during his Netflix special, comedian Chris Rock lampooned the claims Meghan made about racism in her interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Saturday Night Live also made a joke about Meghan when Michael Che joked that she was being offered “$19 an hour” to attend the coronation while a picture of the duchess dressed as a housekeeper was shown on the screen behind him.
Moreover, Trevor Noah cracked a joke about Prince Harry’s frostbitten “todger” while hosting the Grammy Awards. And even James Cordon — who welcomed Harry on his show and went to his wedding — has joked about some of the revelations from the royal’s autobiography.
Meghan’s former pal says they never expected this
Nick Ede who became friends with Meghan in 2013 but lost touch with her when she began dating Prince Harry told Express that being “low hanging fruit” for Hollywood comedians is not what his old pal would have expected or wanted.
“I don’t think they would have thought that people like Trevor Noah, for instance, would joke about them at the Grammys and that it would be humiliating,” Ede said. “James Corden had Harry on his bus and now suddenly he’s joking about them. I think there was a massive miscalculation there from them. Humor is always about the zeitgeist of what’s going on. It’s about what’s happening now, so they’re the sort of low-hanging fruit”
He continued: “I do think that with the documentary, and the podcast, and the book, that it’s become as a lot of people say a pity party. And when you really look at it and actually look into their world, it’s difficult when we see what’s going on in the world with a huge economic crisis and wars etc. to sympathize [with the Sussexes] anymore.
“The first interview (with Oprah) really did open up people’s eyes to a lot and I think it was really significant. But they keep saying: ‘here’s my life. It’s terrible. And we’re here to educate you guys.’ To be honest, I think that is going to start to grate on people.”
Prince Harry is said to be ‘happy’ with his book and the reaction its received
Despite the criticism he has received, a guest who also attended an affair where Meghan and Harry were in February said they talked to the prince about his memoir and revealed to Page Six that he is very pleased with Spare and the success its had.
“Harry said he was really happy about the success of the book and the reaction to it,” the fellow guest told the publication. “He said he had no regrets about any of the revelations, and he’s relieved to have got his story out into the world.”
