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Prince Harry’s latest publicity blitz risks shattering any remaining chance of a royal reconciliation with his ailing father.
The claim was made by several royal experts who spoke to Fox News Digital after the Duke of Sussex joked that President Donald Trump is America’s “king” during a cameo appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” The remarks came nearly three months after Trump visited the U.K. for a state visit where he met with the monarch, who is still undergoing cancer treatment.
“Harry’s jab at President Trump on Colbert wasn’t clever – it was reckless,” Kinsey Schofield, host of YouTube’s “Kinsey Schofield Unfiltered,” told Fox News Digital. “Honestly, how does he think he can hold on to a royal title while taking public swipes at the head of a foreign government?”
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“It’s also a slap in the face,” Schofield insisted. “Buckingham Palace put significant effort into a major state visit for President Trump to support diplomatic relations. And, frankly, it’s a slap to President Trump as well, considering he agreed to ease up on Harry’s immigration situation out of personal respect for King Charles.”
Joking about his desire to play the “Gingerbread Prince” in a fictional Hallmark Christmas movie, Harry told Colbert, “Well, you Americans are obsessed with Christmas movies, and you’re clearly obsessed with royalty, so why not?”
“Hold on, I wouldn’t say we’re obsessed with royalty,” Colbert replied.
WATCH: PRINCE HARRY’S TRUMP JOKE FALLS FLAT WITH LATE NIGHT AUDIENCE
“Really? I heard you elected a king,” Harry responded, as the audience booed.
Harry’s jab echoed anti-Trump sentiment from October’s “No Kings” protest, during which scores of liberals and Trump critics demonstrated nationwide to oppose the president’s second-term agenda.
Organizers of the protest said they were defending democracy from what they saw as Trump’s authoritarian rule.
“Harry did himself no favors,” British royals expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News Digital. “And to hear that decidedly left-leaning New York City audience boo him – he went from cheers and a standing ovation at first, to that. A few minutes’ summary, if you ask me, of his entire trajectory.”
“His ghastly, self-defeating swipe at both President Trump and his own royal family signaled yet again his terrible judgment,” said Fordwich.
“While he still trades on his title, he attacks the monarchy and chronically misreads public mood on both sides of the Atlantic. Instead of healing the wounds he caused, he scratches them open – all while claiming to want to heal.”
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Harry followed up by poking fun at Americans for electing “king” Trump after “making such a big deal about my great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, George III” – a reference to the American Revolution.
“Well, he was kind of a jerk,” Colbert shot back.
“OK, let it go,” Harry joked.
The prince continued, asking Colbert what else he needed to do to convince Americans to cast him in a Hallmark film.
“I’ll record a self-tape, I’ll fly myself to an audition, settle a baseless lawsuit with the White House – all the things you people on TV do,” he said.
WATCH: PRINCE HARRY POKES FUN AT AMERICANS FOR ELECTING KING TRUMP DURING COLBERT APPEARANCE
The line was meant as a dig at Colbert’s parent company, CBS, which settled with Trump earlier this year after the president sued the broadcaster for allegedly editing its interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 election.
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Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.
In September, Trump opened a two-day visit to the U.K., calling his meeting with the king, 77, “one of the highest honors of my life.” During the trip, he made time for a quiet tribute at Queen Elizabeth II’s tomb.
During his visit, Trump was welcomed with the largest guard of honor in living memory – featuring 120 horses and 1,300 troops – as well as carriage rides, an air show and a Windsor Castle state dinner. The 79-year-old also met with Prime Minister Keir Starmer to discuss trade, technology and geopolitical issues.
No U.S. president, or any other world leader, has received the honor of a second U.K. state visit. Trump’s first was in 2019, during his previous term.
“The Andrew saga has already left the royal family exposed, and the king is trying to manage those issues while carrying out daily duties and undergoing regular cancer treatment,” said Schofield, referring to the disgraced ex-Duke of York.
“For Harry to stir up more controversy connected to the family only accelerates internal discussions about removing his titles,” Schofield claimed. “If anything, this moment underscores that there is no path back for Harry. For those insisting he could still be a valuable asset, he just proved what a liability he is.”
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Schofield noted that before Kate Middleton announced her cancer diagnosis in March 2024, Colbert jokingly linked her absence from public life to rumors of an alleged affair between her husband, Prince William, and Rose Hanbury, the Marchioness of Cholmondeley. Colbert later expressed remorse for the jokes after Kate’s diagnosis became public, Vanity Fair reported.
“That was one of the hardest years of William’s life, and he’s acknowledged that publicly,” Schofield said. “Colbert’s nasty monologue deeply upset both the prince and princess, who were already under immense pressure as they quietly navigated Catherine’s cancer diagnosis while trying to protect their children from fear or confusion.”
“While they were living with that burden, Colbert and others used their platforms to push cruel theories, which William was regularly briefed on,” she continued. “It caused real pain. Rose was prepared to sue. And for Harry to run onto Colbert’s stage and crack jokes with him tells you everything about where that relationship stands. It’s irrevocably broken.”
The outlet reported that Hanbury’s lawyers sent a legal notice to CBS, stating the allegations were false.
Harry has been estranged from his family since 2020, when he and his wife, Meghan Markle, stepped back as senior royals. They said the decision was driven by unbearable press intrusion and a lack of palace support.
After moving to California, they aired their grievances in interviews and documentaries. Harry’s 2023 memoir, “Spare,” further worsened his relationship with the royal family.
In May, Harry told the BBC: “I would love reconciliation with my family. There’s no point in continuing to fight anymore. I don’t know how much longer my father has.”
Harry met his father before Trump’s state visit, sparking hope among royal watchers of a reconciliation between father and son. Sources previously told People magazine that the king wasn’t responding to Harry’s calls or letters.
But not everyone believes Harry’s late-night appearance was catastrophic.
“It was clunky, but not cancerous,” Doug Eldridge, founder of Achilles PR, told Fox News Digital.
“Objectively speaking, it was pretty benign – this was about visibility. As I’ve often said, Hollywood isn’t about talent; it’s about temperature. Visibility and popularity provide the match to light that fire in the first place. He might not have done well, but he still knew what he was doing.”
But for some, the wounds have already been inflicted.
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“After such a successful state visit, where his father hosted President Trump to bolster U.S.-U.K. ties, Harry is doing precisely what he shouldn’t – inserting himself into partisan politics, contrary to all traditional royal neutrality,” said Fordwich. “While we won’t have any public response from the royals at this point, past patterns indicate how this will have been received.”
“I guess Harry and Colbert have a lot in common – like the unemployment line,” Schofield quipped.
Fox News Digital’s Gabriel Hays and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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