Prince Harry poked enjoyable at drama inside the royal household throughout a Christmas celebration speech.
The Duke of Sussex, 41, in contrast Britain’s aristocracy to the soapy interval drama Downton Abbey in tongue-in-cheek vogue throughout an look on the British-American Enterprise Council’s annual Christmas luncheon in Santa Monica, California, on Friday, December 5, in keeping with Individuals.
“Individuals typically ask if rising up with the royal household was a bit like [show creator Julian Fellowes’] Downton Abbey,” he started. “Yeah, however solely a type of worlds is stuffed with drama, intrigue, elaborate dinners [and] marriages to People — and the opposite is a TV present.”
The prince was humorously referencing his 2018 marriage to American actress Meghan Markle. The couple share two kids: Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4.
He has additionally had his share of household drama, although he reportedly made peace together with his father, King Charles III, throughout a U.Ok. go to in September. Us Weekly reported on the time that there was nonetheless “ongoing pressure” between Harry and his brother, Prince William, as a result of former’s “public disclosures, memoir revelations and interviews and criticisms of [William and wife Kate Middleton’s] roles.”
In his Christmas celebration speech, Harry provided one other zinger about President Donald Trump’s immigration coverage whereas discussing the 2026 World Cup, which the U.S. is cohosting with Canada and Mexico. The royal quipped that he was excited to satisfy among the athletes from “throughout the pond” after they arrived stateside, supplied they get “by customs” and “previous ICE.”
Harry talked about that his look for the British-American Enterprise Council was his “first Christmas celebration” in “some time,” earlier than talking extra critically about what it has been like to maneuver to the U.S. (Harry and Meghan, 44, moved their household from Frogmore Cottage within the U.Ok. to Canada in early 2020 after stepping down as working royals. They’ve since relocated to California.)
“For me, being British isn’t about the place you bodily stand, however what you stand for,” he added.
Talking about celebrating the July 4 vacation, Harry joked: “It’s a brand new world to me, celebrating independence from Britain, and extra particularly, independence from my nice, nice, nice, nice, nice, great-grandfather.”
Prince Harry in September 2025. Suzanne Plunkett – Pool/Getty Photos
Harry has had a really busy week, as he made a cameo look on The Late Present With Stephen Colbert in New York Metropolis on Wednesday, December 3. He crashed host Stephen Colbert’s monologue because the comic made gentle of the development of streaming royal-themed Christmas films.
“Sorry, I genuinely thought this was the audition for The Gingerbread Prince Saves Christmas in Nebraska,” Harry teased as he walked on stage.
Colbert feigned shock over Harry eager to star in his personal Christmas film, although the comic admitted that the title “sounds improbable.”
“Properly, you People are obsessive about Christmas films and also you’re obsessive about royalty, so why not?” Harry replied.
Later within the phase, Harry poked enjoyable at President Trump when Colbert objected to his idea that America is “obsessive about royalty.”
“Actually? I heard you elected a king,” Harry jokingly retorted, with Colbert conceding that the prince “has some extent.”
Apart from Harry’s media appearances, he and Meghan had a difficult few days. Meghan’s brother, Thomas Markle Jr., confirmed to the Day by day Mail on Friday that their father, Thomas Markle, had his left leg amputated beneath the knee after falling within the Philippines.
“There was no choice given. It was both, ‘We’ve got to function now and take away the leg, or he could die.’ It was a life-threatening state of affairs,” Thomas Jr. defined.
A spokesperson for the Duchess of Sussex later confirmed to Us that she obtained in contact along with her father, 81, following his surgical procedure.
“I can verify she has reached out to her father,” her rep mentioned on Friday.
