Even Saturday Night Live UK is talking about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s move back to England after spending six years across the pond.
The Saturday, September 12, SNL UK season 2 premiere kicked off with a royal-themed cold open, featuring King Charles III (Larry Dean) and Queen Camilla (Emma Sidi) appearing to enjoy a “weekend away” at their Balmoral retreat in Scotland.
While “Charles” and “Camilla” soaked in the so-called “bliss” of their Scottish weekend, their apparent peace was quickly interrupted when Harry (Jack Shep) and Meghan (Ayoade Bambgboye) arrived.
“Harry, what are you two doing here? This castle is for royals only,” pretend-Charles quipped, further asking what his son and daughter-in-law wanted.
Faux Meghan replied, “We’re moving back to the U.K. and we need your help.”
“Charles,” meanwhile, asked whether “Harry” and “Meghan” had “spent all [their] Netflix money already.” (Harry, 41, and Meghan, 45, inked a multimillion-dollar deal to produce TV and films for the streamer upon their stateside move in 2020.)
“Daddy, it was $60 million. How long was it meant to last?” onscreen “Harry” lamented. “I’m not asking for much, just a duchy or two. … Daddy, just because I don’t want to be a royal doesn’t mean I want to be a regular guy.”
Harry and Meghan stepped away from their duties as senior working royals in 2020 in favor of a private life. The couple, along with son Prince Archie, now 7, settled in California, later welcoming daughter Princess Lilibet, now 5, in 2021. Us confirmed in August that Harry and Meghan would return to England in time for their kids to start school in the fall.
Despite the move, Charles, 77, made it clear that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are still no longer working members of the royal family. (Charles had been estranged from Harry since the 2020 move, though they have begun mending fences amid the king’s ongoing battle with an undisclosed form of cancer.)
“The charitable work of the Duke and Duchess is a personal matter for them both and undertaken in their private capacity,” Charles wrote in a letter sent to the Sussexes’ team, obtained by multiple news outlets, earlier this month. “In short, their position is akin to private citizens with commercial and charitable interests.”
He continued, “It is well known that in January 2020 the Duke and Duchess stepped down from undertaking representative duties on behalf of The Sovereign, and are no longer working Members of The Royal Family. This position, distinct from the State and Royal duties undertaken by the working Royal Family, and with the personal latitude it brings the couple in respect of financial independence and protection of their privacy as they would wish, will continue to be fully respected.”
A spokesperson for the Archewell cofounders later told the BBC that Harry and Meghan were “a little surprised not to have been told about this in advance.”
Saturday Night Live UK airs on Sky One live Saturdays at 10 p.m. BST.
