Prince Harry has made a surprise, toe-curling appearance on Stephen Colbert’s Late Show, where he mocked Donald Trump by claiming America had ‘elected a king’, sparking pantomime boos from the audience.

The Duke of Sussex lampooned the President with a reference to the ‘No Kings’ left-wing protests, which saw millions march in New York, Washington DC, Chicago, Miami and Los Angeles in October in opposition to Trump and his administration.

Delivering a series of awkward jokes, Harry also criticised CBS for settling a ‘baseless’ lawsuit with the President and claimed the US were ‘obsessed with royalty’.

He also delivered a gag about King George III, Harry’s sixth great-grandfather, whose reign saw the loss of the American colonies in 1783, and said Colbert should ‘let it go’ when the host called the late monarch ‘a jerk’.

Harry’s TV appearance was broadcast as the Daily Mail exclusively revealed that Meghan’s estranged father Thomas is fighting for his life in intensive care in the Philippines after undergoing emergency surgery.

The royal had joined the liberal comedian, who has been an outspoken critic of Harry’s family, for a Christmas sketch about being a prince in a Hallmark movie, broadcast in the US last night. There was no traditional interview and viewers admitted cringing when some of Harry’s deadpan jokes failed to land.

He said he would ‘do anything’ as he begged to be in the Hallmark movie, saying he can ride a horse, fly a helicopter and admitted he had showbiz connections, including a wife who was once a famous TV star.

Artificial snow then began to fall as the duke joked about him being a ‘handsome prince’ and how Colbert had to ‘just believe’, before the host told him he had ‘got the role’ of ‘official Late Show prince of Christmas’ to cheers from the crowd.

Meghan had trailed her husband’s Wednesday night appearance on the Late Show on Instagram. The clip showed Harry recreating a Great British Bake Off meme with a lip-sync video.

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Prince Harry was booed by Stephen Colbert’s Late Show audience after claiming America ‘elected a king’ in Donald Trump before criticizing CBS for settling a lawsuit with the president

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Meghan trailed her husband’s appearance on the Late Show on Instagram, where Harry did a weird lip sync skit with Colbert last night

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Colbert was discussing the trend of holiday movies with jokey titles like The Gingerbread Prince Saves Christmas in a Basket when Prince Harry popped up on the set

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The pair eventually transitioned to a more wintry set to mock Hallmark holiday movie cliches, which Harry said he wanted to star in, joking that he was a ‘handsome prince’

On the Late Show, Stephen Colbert was discussing the trend of Christmas movies with corny titles.

Colbert’s other guests were Academy Award nominee Michael Shannon and Irish actress and singer Jessie Buckley.

There were gasps when Harry popped up behind him to joke that he was there to audition for the part.

The duke then wandered through the studio, joking that he has become lost while searching for an audition for the ‘Gingerbread Christmas Prince saves Christmas in Nebraska’.

A flurry of awkward jokes followed, including the potshots at Trump and also CBS’s decision to pay $16 million (£13.5 million) to settle a legal dispute with the President.

There was also a gag about the broadcaster’s cancellation of the Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

It was the duke’s second Late Show appearance, having last appeared in January 2023 to promote his controversial memoir Spare.

Did YOU find Harry’s appearance on Colbert…

Funny

Trying too hard

Harry walked on to the Late Show to cheers and then a standing ovation at The Ed Sullivan Theatre in New York.

Colbert was discussing Christmas movies with jokey titles such as The Gingerbread Prince Saves Christmas in a Basket.

‘Excuse me, Stephen?’ Harry said after meekly walking on stage to a chorus of applause.

The pair shook hands as Colbert introduced him to the audience in his full title: ‘Folks, it’s Prince Henry Charles Albert David of Wales Sussex. What are you doing here?’

‘Sorry, I genuinely thought this was the audition for The Gingerbread Prince Saves Christmas in a Basket,’ he cracked.

Colbert replied: ‘You’re an actual prince, why would you want to be in one of those movies?’

Harry quipped: ‘Well, you Americans are obsessed with Christmas movies and you’re clearly obsessed with royalty, so why not?

‘Hold on, hold on, look, I wouldn’t say we’re obsessed with royalty,’ Colbert claimed.

‘Really? I heard you elected a king,’ the prince joked, producing howls and boos from the CBS comic’s liberal audience.

‘You’ve got a point,’ replied Colbert.

‘And after making such a big deal of my great great great great great grandfather George III,’ he added.

‘Well he was kind of a jerk,’ Colbert said.

Prince Harry replied: ‘Let it go.’

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Harry in the Colbert teaser, which was shared by his wife Meghan on Instagram, was based on a viral clip from Bake Off

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On the show, there were wild cheers when Harry popped up on stage behind the host, sparking a standing ovation

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Harry begged to be in Colbert’s Hallmark movie about a prince – and eventually got the part

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Harry joked to Colbert that Americans showed they were so obsessed with royals that they ‘elected a king’ in a crack at Donald Trump, sparking pantomime booing

The prince carried on with the sketch, stating his credentials for appearing in a holiday film.

‘So what’s a prince got to do to get into a Hallmark movie these days? I’ve got skills. I can ride a horse, I can fly a helicopter, I can ride a horse in a helicopter!’

Colbert then replied with a reference to his actress wife.

‘This is showbusiness, it’s about who you know. I mean, do you have a personal connection to any famous TV actresses?’

‘I might know one,’ the prince deadpanned, before mocking Colbert’s employers at CBS paying out a lawsuit from Trump over a deceptively edited interview with Kamala Harris.

‘I’ll do anything,’ he pleaded about his casting in a holiday movie.

‘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.’

‘I didn’t do that,’ pointedly responded Colbert to the $36 million settlement with Trump.

‘Maybe that’s why you were canceled,’ the prince joked, to great applause.

Prince Harry again promised to do ‘anything’ in return before Colbert said that he had to ‘remind Americans what they love about Christmas.’

‘Okay, Christmas traditions,’ he replied. ‘Putting on jumpers and pulling crackers on Boxing Day.’

Colbert questioned: ‘Are those even real words?’

‘Who am I kidding? I’m never gonna’ be an American hallmark prince and now I’m stuck spending the holiday in your quaint little village of Midtown Manhattan,’ he joked.

The pair then transitioned to a wintry scene as they briefly reenacted the biggest cliches of Hallmark holiday cinema, with Colbert and Prince Harry embracing at the end.

Meghan was nowhere to be found, although she did post a cringe-worthy clip of Harry and Colbert performing a meme from the The Great British Bake Off to her Instagram story – hours after the release of her Netflix Christmas special.

In it Harry and Colbert participate in a bizarre lip sync video where they aped stars of The Great British Bake Off, which is broadcast on Netflix as The Great British Baking Show in the US.

Harry was British Brummie TV host Alison Hammond while Colbert was mimicking baker Mark Lutton.

In the scene, from the New Year’s Day special in 2024, Hammond mistakenly thought the Northern Irish former contestant was telling her to ‘beg for me.’

When she asked him what he would want her to do if he was ‘king for the day’ Lutton replied: ‘Bake for me, probably.’

However, Hammond misheard him and appeared shocked when she said: ‘You’d want me to do what? Beg?’

Lutton repeated back to her: “Bake! B-A-K-E,” prompting Hammond to reply: “Oh bake!”, and erupt into giggles.

In the lip-sync clip, Colbert takes on the role of misunderstood baker Lutton, while Harry hams it up with suggestive eyebrow wiggling, wide eyes and hysterical laughter.

The clip was also re-posted by the Duchess of Sussex on Instagram.

Neither she nor Prince Harry made any mention of Meghan’s father, who it was revealed was in intensive care last night following emergency surgery.

The Duke of Sussex has previously appeared on Colbert’s show in 2023, while also making guest spots on Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show and James Corden’s now canceled The Late Late Show.

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On Wednesday, it was revealed Markle’s estranged father Thomas Markle was reportedly in intensive care in the Philippines after undergoing three hours of surgery after falling ill at home

Meghan posted a brief clip of her husband and Colbert to her Instagram feed but made no mention of her ailing father.

On Wednesday, it was revealed Markle’s estranged father Thomas was reportedly in intensive care in the Philippines after undergoing three hours of surgery after falling ill at home.

Thomas Markle, 81, who has been estranged from his daughter since her 2018 marriage to Harry, was rushed to hospital on Tuesday after being taken gravely ill at home.

He underwent around three hours of surgery during Wednesday and today remains in the intensive care unit. He now faces a second procedure to remove a blood clot.

This week’s medical crisis unfolded as Harry made a paid speech to a group of estate agents in Canada ahead of his trip to New York, while Meghan released her holiday edition of her Netflix show With Love, Meghan, in which she stressed the importance of family and friends.