Bad sign for Harry and Meghan? ‘South Park’ mocks them as ‘dumb prince and his stupid wife’

In the latest indication that a segment of the U.S. population may be weary of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s high-profile complaints about privacy and the hardships of royal life, the couple were savagely skewered in the latest episode of “South Park,” where the fictional cartoon avatars are called the “dumb prince and his stupid wife.”

In its 26th season, the animated Comedy Central show turned its famously coarse, take-no-prisoners humor against “the Prince of Canada and his wife,” who flee to the small town of South Park, Colorado for “privacy and seclusion.” Yet they do so as they try to dominate TV and magazine covers with their “World-Wide Privacy” tour and annoy their new neighbors by landing on the street in a private jet and putting on fireworks shows and polo matches in their front yard.

This South Park episode is quite, erm, something… https://t.co/uMKqqIW6Vi

— Matt Wilkinson (@MattSunRoyal) February 16, 2023

The couple display “Stop looking at us!” and “We want our privacy” signs while appearing on a Canadian talk show, so the cartoon version of Harry can promote his book, “Waagh,” a dig at his best-selling memoir, “Spare.”

When the host questions how badly the couple really want privacy — given that the prince dishes dirt about his royal relatives in “Waagh,” and his “questionable” wife has her own TV show and “hangs out with celebrities” — the Harry figure says, “How dare you, sir! My Instagram-loving (expletive) wife has always wanted her privacy.”

Later, one of show’s main characters, Kyle Broflovski, complains about his new South Park neighbors, saying: “I’m sick of hearing about them! I can’t get away from them! They’re everywhere, in my (expletive) face!”

His buddy Eric Cartman responds, “We don’t care about some dumb prince and his stupid wife.”

Kyle complains about a dumb prince and his stupid wife in the all-new episode, titled “Worldwide Privacy Tour” premiering Wednesday at 10/9c on Comedy Central. pic.twitter.com/6Dpa5R5ZZ3

— South Park (@SouthPark) February 13, 2023

During the episode, the Harry and Meghan clones meet up with a “branding manager” who describes his qualities as “royal prince, millionaire, world traveler, victim.” His wife receives the tagline: “sorority girl, actress, influencer and victim.”

‘Is that you? Sorority Girl. Actress. Influencer. Victim. Yes, that’s totally me!’ ???????????????????? #Southpark #HarryandMeghan pic.twitter.com/rY4XVMmFi1

— Fifi ❤️ The Waleses / Cambridges ???????????????????????? (@hellen3030) February 16, 2023

Critics of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex jumped on Twitter to praise the episode as “spot on,” as the hashtag #DumbPrinceandHisStupidWife was trending. Supporters of the couple are likely to denounce the episode as cruel and unfair and argue that “South Park” shouldn’t be taken as culturally relevant, because its lowbrow humor is designed for adolescent boys.

Over its 26 years, the show created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone has been controversial. It has received critical acclaim for its “unflinching satire of contemporary culture” and its irreverent, antiauthoritarian spirit, as Vice said. It’s also been described as a formative text for a generation of hip, pop culture nerds who grew up watching it. On the other hand, in the polarized climate of post-Trump America, Vice said “South Park” also has been accused of raising “a generation of trolls” and of even “laying the foundation for the rise of the alt-right.”

However one feels about “South Park,” there’s no denying that it’s become especially famous for ripping into celebrities, often by daring to say the things about them that no one else will.

“South Park” dedicated an entire episode in Season 9 to Tom Cruise barricading himself “in the closet” and refusing to come out. His fellow celebrity (and Scientologist) John Travolta later joins him. In other episodes, Mel Gibson is portrayed as an antisemitic maniac, while plastic surgery and pedophile jokes abound in a show featuring a cartoon Michael Jackson.

For Harry and his American wife, the episode comes at a strange time. In certain ways, the Sussexes are riding high from the blockbuster numbers they received for their six-part Netflix docuseries in December and Harry’s “Spare,” reported to be the fastest-selling nonfiction book of all time after its publication in January.

But the success of the Netflix show and Harry’s book on both sides of the Atlantic revealed a paradox. The Sussexes have been been unpopular in the U.K. since their acrimonious departure from royal life in 2020. But a surprising Newsweek poll last month showed that they’ve also lost significant favor in the United States, whose population tends to admire people who stand up to stodgy institutions like the British monarchy and appreciate celebrities who open up about their personal struggles.

Certainly, Harry’s confessional memoir and the couple’s media blitz over the last year have sold books and sparked controversy, but they’ve taken “reputational” hits, Newsweek reported. Harry’s salacious stories about losing his virginity and suffering a frostbitten penis during a trip to the Arctic made him the topic of jokes on Twitter and late-night shows. “South Park” also used Harry’s focus on his frozen “todger” in its episode, showing his cartoon version flaunting it for attention.

Newsweek’s poll of more than 2,000 U.S. registered voters showed that the “more Harry and Meghan talk, the less Americans” like them, royal correspondent Jack Royston reported.

The poll revealed that King Charles III’s son was liked by only 31% of respondents and disliked by 38%, a net approval rating of -7, Newsweek reported. Data collected on Dec. 5, before the couple’s Netflix series aired, gave Harry a +38 net approval rating, meaning he dropped 45 points in a little more than a month.

Meghan didn’t fare much better. The poll showed that she was viewed favorably by only 26 percent of Americans and unfavorably by 39 percent, giving her a net approval rating of -13. This compares to +23 on Dec. 5, a drop of 36 points.

There’s something “seriously wrong for Harry and Meghan in their messaging,” Royston tweeted. The data furthermore suggested that the couple have not won over a key demographic: American 18- to 24-year-olds. This demographic overlaps with “South Park’s” fan base of 18- to 49-year-olds.

Only 31% of 18-to-24-year-olds view Harry positively; 38% view him negatively, Newsweek said. Among this group, only 26% percent viewed Meghan positively, while 34% percent viewed her negatively.

Back in the U.K., Richard Palmer, the correspondent for the Daily Express, wondered if there are two ways to interpret the “South Park” episode. Yes, it could be a sign of the Sussexes’ declining popularity, he said. Or their starring roles in a hip Comedy Central show could mean “they’ve really made it in the U.S.”

So the makers of South Park have lampooned Harry and Meghan mercilessly, much more so than the teaser hinted. A sign the Sussexes have really made it in the US or further evidence of a loss of support? https://t.co/RO1qbVOgoohttps://t.co/6a2vDsMpcf

— Richard Palmer (@RoyalReporter) February 16, 2023