It has a reputation for brutal humour, honestly and fearlessness, so no wonder Meghan was reportedly left feeling “upset and overwhelmed” when satirical cartoon South Park released an episode which mercilessly mocked her and husband Harry.
South Park, created by writers Trey Parker and Matt Stone in 1997, has consistently gone where many others dare not. The second episode of the 26th season, The Worldwide Privacy Tour, focuses on a fictional couple, ‘The Prince of Canada and his wife’ but is clearly based on Meghan and Harry.
The action follows the couple as they strive for a normal, low key life. Their attempts to do this – on a global tour audibly demanding privacy – bomb and they end up living in South Park, Colorado.
There are rumblings that the Duke and Duchess are considering suing. Royal commentator Neil Sean told Fox News that “according to sources close to the ex-Royals... this may have legal ramifications attached. Their legal team are casting an eye over the episode to see what is wrong, and what could be turned into something more sinister”. A spokesperson for the couple has since come out and said the idea that there would be legal ramifications was “all frankly nonsense” and “totally baseless and boring”.
The 20 minute episode contained countless scathing moments, but these get top marks for pure savagery.
1. The reimagined titles
From Harry’s memoir, Spare, being renamed Waaagh to his wife being described as a ‘sorority girl, actress, influencer” and both of them labelled ‘victim’ – the South Park writers gladly told us what they really thought of the couple.
Later, when the couple meet with execs at a branding agency, audiences got an insight into the princess’s hobbies with a list including ‘First Lady Botherer’ – presumably a reference to Meghan’s admiration for Michelle Obama.
2. Harry’s frostbitten todger
One of the most eye-popping parts of Harry’s memoir, to be filed under ‘Too Much Information’, was the revelation that he was suffering from a frostbitten penis at his older brother’s wedding to Kate Middleton.
This level of ribald detail is pure gold for South Park and, of course, the creators jumped on it. The prince is seen marching over to the house of his schoolboy neighbour Kyle and rubbing his ‘blue todger’ across the front window while yelling “Have some respect for people’s privacy”.
3. The privacy tour
“STOP LOOKING AT US!” and “WE WANT OUR PRIVACY!!” – these are the placards that the royal couple take with them to crowded Indian city streets and Australian plains as part of their Worldwide Privacy Tour.
And, never ones to shy away from heavy-handedness, the creators also ensured the couple’s modest house in South Park benefitted from on-brand messaging. Multicoloured ‘LEAVE US ALONE’ bunting is draped across the gables while ‘RESPECT OUR PRIVACY’ hangs over the door.
4. Meghan’s magazine covers
At one point, viewers a treated to the briefest shot of a slew of magazine covers bearing Meghan’s face. One of these is a spoof of a GQ cover which in real life had the headline ‘Meghan’s annus mirabilis’, which means ‘Meghan’s wonderful year’ in Latin. Naturally, South Park went low with ‘Princess Anus’ for their cover line.
5. Meghan, the empty vessel?
Perhaps the most brutal moment of all was the section where the prince has a moment of reflection in which he explains to his wife that what really matters in what they have on the inside, before opening her mouth to peer inside.
After shouting “hello” into her open maws there is only an echo in response, which is of course a reference to an empty vessel.
Ouch.
