When Prince Harry published his memoir Save in January, the book promised to be a “raw” and “unflinching” portrayal of the royal’s life story to date, detailing a number of the physical and emotional struggles he endured before and after his dramatic exit from the British monarchy in 2020.
A week ahead of the official release date, the book was leaked to media outlets, with many of the most controversial stories being widely circulated before the public could read the prince’s words for themselves. Despite this setback, Save became the fastest-selling non-fiction book of all time—but the response from the public and commentators, though may not have been exactly as Harry would have wished.
Notable critics of the prince condemned his publishing details of private conversations with royal family members, despite being ferociously protective of his own privacy, and for his critical portrayals of King Charles, Prince William and Queen Camilla.
It was comedians, however, that appeared to take the most ammunition from the book, using the lesser-bombshell revelations, such as Harry’s description of catching frostbite on his “todger” to make the royal the punchline in a series of jokes.
Here, Newsweek looks at how the comedy world reacted to Prince Harry’s Save.
Adult animated comedy south park is perhaps the most explicit show to have spoofed Harry and Meghan Markle in the aftermath of Save‘s release in a special episode titled: “The Worldwide Privacy Tour.”
Parodied as the “Prince and Princess of Canada” who leave the Canadian royal family to seek privacy, juxtaposed with appearing on TV interviews and releasing the memoir “Wahhh,” there was no doubt who the show was roasting, with the characters drawn to strongly resemble Harry and Meghan.
The show sparked rumors that the Sussexes were considering legal action against the show, which has done similar spoofs of innumerable celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Paris Hilton and Jennifer Lopez. However, a spokesperson for the couple said these claims were “baseless and boring.”
The Daily Show host Trevor Noah, who has previously spoken out in support of Meghan Markle, made a joke at Harry’s expense while hosting the 2023 Grammy Awards in February.
Introducing comedian (and friend of Harry’s) James Cordon, he told the global audience: “James Cordon is a 12-time Emmy winner and a host of the Late Late Show. He’s also living proof that a man can move from London to LA and not tell everyone about his frostbitten penis.”
This earned a round of laughter from stars at the awards show, including Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck.
No late night host has made more jokes at Prince Harry’s expense after Save than Jimmy Kimmel. Jimmy Kimmel Live! has featured a number of sketches about the book, including one with two actors dressed as the late pop star Prince, recreating an alleged fight between Harry and Prince William.
One of the most graphic sketches saw Kimmel perform a dramatic reading of an imagined children’s version of Savein which the royal’s experience applying a brand of lip balm favored by Princess Diana to his frostbitten penis was told in rhyme.
The joke was notable for appearing to also make Diana a figure of ridicule, something that has rarely been done in prime-time since her shocking death in 1997.
“My poor little prince, put this cream on your willy. It will lessen the ache and make it less chilly,” Kimmel read in the voice of the late princess.
“But mommy, did you not put this on your lips?”
“Oh yes, my dear boy, and also my nips. But do not delay or your knob be destroyed.”
“But mommy, have you heard about Sir Sigmund Freud?”
tonight show host Jimmy Fallon was another comedian to take aim at Harry in the aftermath of Save.
In a segment titled “Google Autofails,” Fallon gave examples of humorous auto-filled answers from the search engine. The top responses to the half question: “How to return…” featured one of the answers as: “How to return…Prince Harry to England.”
Stephen Colbert had the distinction among the array of late night hosts taking aim at Harry’s memoir to actually feature the prince on his show for an exclusive interview promoting its release.
When Prince Harry published his memoir Save in January, the book promised to be a “raw” and “unflinching” portrayal of the royal’s life story to date, detailing a number of the physical and emotional struggles he endured before and after his dramatic exit from the British monarchy in 2020.
