Top News

King Charles was urged to strip Prince Harry of his titles following his latest bizarre appearance on a US talk show. The Duke of Sussex made an unexpected appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert this week.

Harry appeared in a comedy sketch that aired on Wednesday night, playing himself as he auditions to become a Hallmark movie "Christmas prince" and also made jokes about US President Donald Trump. In the segment, the duke wandered through the studio, joking that he had become lost while searching for an audition for the "Gingerbread Christmas Prince saves Christmas in Nebraska".

Colbert asked why a real prince would want to star in such films, prompting Harry to reply: "You Americans are obsessed with Christmas movies, and you're clearly obsessed with royalty, so why not?"

When Colbert pushed back on the idea of an American "obsession," Harry quipped: "Really? I hear you elected a king," in an apparent reference to the "No Kings" protests directed at the Trump administration.

Referencing CBS's recent settlement with Mr Trump, the duke joked that he would "do anything" to get the part, adding: "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 in TV do."

Colbert replied: "Hey, I didn't do any of those things," to which Harry shot back: "Maybe that's why you're cancelled."

The sketch then transformed into a festive spectacle, with trees appearing and sleigh bells ringing as Harry urged Colbert to "just believe".

The Daily Beast's Tom Syke wrote on his Royalist substack: "I think the Royal Family has no real choice. Harry believes he's free to speak his mind now that he's no longer a working royal.

"I think if he were truly living as Harry Wales, a private citizen, that argument would hold water. But he isn't Harry Wales. He's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex.

"And in the American imagination, he still carries the full aura of a prince - a representative of the monarchy."

He added: "A global audience does not grasp that Harry isn't still a part of the Windsor family business. Charles and William may be hundreds of miles away in Balmoral or Windsor, but in the American mind they are standing just offstage as Harry delivers his punchlines.

"The titles must be removed, not as punishment but for clarity. Removing them draws a clear blue line between Prince Harry the royal and Harry the private citizen. It protects the monarchy from his volatility."