Before Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s wedding, John Oliver warned that the royals are “an emotionally stunted bunch of fundamentally flawed people doing a really silly pseudo job,” in a clip that surfaced on TikTok.
The comedian was asked by Stephen Colbert The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in February 2018 whether he was excited about the royal wedding that would take place in May.
Oliver, another Briton who married an American woman, said: “I wouldn’t blame her if she backed out at the last minute. I don’t think you just watched the pilot episode of The crown to get a basic sense that she might get married into a family that could cause her emotional complications.
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His reference to “emotional complications” is reminiscent of the story Harry and Meghan have since told about their struggles with royal life, including in the Prince’s recently released memoir. Reserve.
The video, on TikTok, was viewed nearly 300,000 times in five days and liked more than 31,800 times.
In the original interview, Colbert suggested that “this generation seems like nice people”, drawing a skeptical response from Oliver.
“Yes,” replied Oliver. “I mean, it’s an emotionally stunted bunch of fundamentally flawed people doing a really silly pseudo job. That’s what she’s going to marry. So I hope she likes it — it’s going to be weird for her.
“I wouldn’t marry into the royal family. I am an ordinary citizen. I wouldn’t be welcome. Especially not after what I just said.’
The light-hearted exchange turned out to be more prescient than Oliver might have realized at the time, as Meghan would tell Oprah Winfrey three years later that she experienced suicidal thoughts while a working royal.
Harry’s book Reserve also paints a portrait of an emotionally distant family where there are few hugs.
After Princess Diana died, Harry said that Charles didn’t hug him, but put a hand on his knee.
Spare read: “What I remember with surprising clarity is that I didn’t cry. Not a single tear.
“Dad didn’t hug me. He wasn’t good at showing emotions under normal circumstances, how could he be expected to show them in such a crisis?
“But his hand fell on my knee one more time and he said, ‘It’s going to be okay.’ That was quite a lot for him. Paternal, hopeful, kind. And so incredibly untrue.”
Meghan also suggested that her relationship with Prince William and Kate Middleton got off to an awkward start after she tried to hug them.
“It’s like I was a hugger, I’ve always been a hugger,” she said in their Netflix docuseries Harry and Meganreleased in December 2022. “I didn’t realize that’s really shocking to a lot of Brits.
“I think I came to understand very quickly that the formality on the outside carried on to the inside… we can relax now.” But that formality is transferred to both sides and that was surprising to me.”
Harry described the moment in his book: “I pictured Meg leaning in and giving him a hug, which sent him into a total panic.
‘He drew back. Willy didn’t hug many strangers. While Meg hugged most strangers.”
