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By Jack Royston and Shane Croucher
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Prince Harry made a surprise appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Wednesday night in which he took his most direct swipe at President Donald Trump in years.
In a segment, the Duke of Sussex teased Americans for their obsessive interest in royals. Colbert pushed back, saying: "I wouldn't say we're obsessed with royalty."
"Really?" Harry replied. "I heard you elected a king."
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"And after making such a big deal about my great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather George III," he added. The jokey segment was built around the idea Harry might want to become a "Hallmark Prince" by starring in a Christmas movie. Harry said: "I'll do anything. 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."
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Why It Matters
Trump's opponents have accused him of acting like a monarch because of his aggressive use of executive power, and there have been large-scale "No Kings" protests in response.
However, if Harry's jokey swipe were to start a public dispute with the president, the stakes could be high for the prince following public comments by Trump in 2024 about the prince's visa and past use of drugs.
Prince Harry, Donald Trump and the 2020 Election
Harry's latest comments risk reigniting a feud between the Sussexes and Trump which dates back to 2020, when Harry and Meghan Markle commented in the run-up to that year's election, in which Trump lost to Joe Biden.
Meghan got the ball rolling by appearing on a Michelle Obama-backed get-out-the-vote initiative, When All Women Vote, and spoke of wanting the "change we all need and deserve."
In the context of Biden trying to kick Trump out of the White House, and given the project's strong Democrat links, it was widely interpreted as a thinly veiled endorsement.
That September, Harry added his own comments to Meghan's: "As we approach this November, it's vital that we reject hate speech, misinformation and online negativity."
Again, the references were interpreted as a subtle swipe at Trump.
The president, though, quickly hit back at the couple, telling reporters at a White House press briefing: "I'm not a fan of hers.
"I would say this—and she has probably has heard that—I wish a lot of luck to Harry because he's going to need it."
Prince Harry and the Heritage Foundation
The conflict appeared to cool in the run-up to the 2024 election, however, while the royal faced a lawsuit filed by conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation, seeking publication of Harry's visa papers.
Heritage filed a Freedom of Information Act case after Harry's comments in his memoir Spare in January 2023 describing taking a range of illegal drugs, including cannabis, cocaine, magic mushrooms and the psychoactive brew Ayahuasca.
The organization appealed to Trump to review Harry's papers, raising the prospect the prince could have his visa revoked and be kicked out of the country.
Kyle Brosnan, chief counsel for The Heritage Foundation's Oversight Project, previously told Newsweek in a statement: "Prince Harry repeatedly admitted to using illegal drugs in his memoir.
"This fact alone makes him inadmissible into the United States. We sued to get answers to a simple question of whether the government gave Prince Harry preferential treatment when he entered the country."
The organization argued Harry must either have lied on his papers about his past use of drugs or been given preferential treatment by the Biden administration. Harry moved to America in March 2020, when Trump was still president.
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Immigration lawyers had suggested there were alternative routes, such as gaining a waiver, and pointed out it would be exceptionally unusual for a visa to be revoked without a criminal conviction. However, Trump's unpredictable nature meant the situation remained tricky for Harry.
Trump was asked on GB News in March 2024 whether Harry should have been given preferential treatment and said: "No. We'll have to see if they know something about the drugs, and if he lied, they'll have to take appropriate action."
Trump was then asked whether that meant "not staying in America."
"Oh, I don't know," Trump replied. "You'll have to tell me. You just have to tell me. You would have thought they would have known this a long time ago."
That case is over, Heritage lost, and there is no sign of them seeking to reignite it. There has also been no indication Trump did order a review of Harry's visa papers. However, the saga does mean a lingering risk that a resumption of the row over Harry's visa potentially hangs over any public disputes between the president and the royal.
It may be that the jokey nature of Harry's comments to Colbert do not reach that threshold, but it is by far the most direct criticism of Trump that Harry has made since the visa issue emerged.
Do you have a question about King Charles III and Queen Camilla, Prince William and Princess Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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