Fans praise ‘best in the world’ writers after Harry and Meghan get the full South Park treatment as the Prince and Princess of Canada who demand ‘privacy’ during a worldwide tour to promote his autobiography ‘Waaagh’
Fans and critics alike took to social media to respond to South Park’s latest satire on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s show follows the young royals, the Prince and Princess of Canada, flying around the world on a Global Privacy Tour to promote his autobiography ‘Aaargh’.
Following the release of Wednesday’s episode, many were quick to publish their reactions online, saying even 26 years on the show ‘has the best writers in the game by far!’
Others said the episode had brought them back after getting bored with the show years ago, while new viewers were drawn in having never heard of South Park before.
The prince and princess are seen deciding to flee Canada, after ‘bashing’ the monarchy
The latest South Park aired on Comedy Central on Wednesday taking aim at Harry and Meghan
South Park announced the episode would run on Wednesday on Twitter
The episode focused on a red-headed prince and his wife from Canada who become frustrated with public attention after a family feud.
The show has used Canada as a stand-in for other countries before. In Season Nineteen, the new Canadian President – who carries more than a resemblance to Donald Trump – looks to build a huge border wall to keep the Americans out.
The show attracted new viewers including Twitter user Canellelabelle who said ‘I have never ever heard of this show till now but THIS is hilarious! They summed up exactly how we all see this annoying duo.’
Twitter user Pièce de Résistance, who said they had got bored with South Park ‘years ago’ said they might watch the controversial episode, ‘which, [by the way] is precisely why Trey and Matt did a Harry and Meghan episode,’ they said.
‘They will ruthlessly mock anything.’
‘It just means [Harry and Meghan] are famous enough to draw viewers.
South Park is notorious for going after figures from popular culture.
While some recent seasons have toyed with ‘themes’, ridiculing political correctness, gentrification and advertising among other topics, the show has generally been very broad in who and what it satirizes over the past 26 seasons.
Routine portrayals of the Mormons – the creators also wrote hit show ‘The Book of Mormon’ – have drawn criticism from members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The portrayal of different religious and social communities has drawn wide backlash from across the political spectrum for many years.
The duo’s animation has taken aim at a mix of targets, including major and minor religions, pop singers, Republican and Democrat presidents, climate change activism and climate change denial.
Fans went on Twitter to praise South Park creators, writers and voice actors Parker and Stone
Some acknowledged the attention to detail in the satire that has ridiculed popular figures and talking points for years
Host Oprah Winfrey has been depicted in South Park in a number of episodes since 2000
The show supposedly won back some viewers for its depiction of the royals
…and other viewers who had not heard of the show before starting watching for the episode
While many fans enjoyed the narrative, others had less positive reactions.
Kitty from Twitter, who says they have been a fan since the debut in 1997, said the show was not a ‘tribute’ but ridicule of Harry and Meghan.
User Ryan Craig questioned the satire itself, saying the creators were ‘just grasping at straws’.
NativeBrony_91 gave a more average review of the episode at ‘6 out of 10’.
The original tweet from South Park was viewed 265.1k times and liked 3,823 times.
Christopher Bouzy said that Twitter was allowing targeted harassment by related accounts dedicated to targeting the couple.
Not all were sold on the episode, some viewers finding it middling
Others said the show went too far, not satirizing the couple so much as subjecting them to ‘brutal ridicule’
Some were not a fan of the satire, suggesting the writers did not know how to make fun of the talking point
Others felt the episode allowed targeted harassment, gaslighting the couple about their experiences
The episode itself opens with Kyle’s younger brother Ike, adopted from Canada, inconsolable at the news that the Queen of Canada – who resembles the late Queen Elizabeth II – is dead.
The Prince and Princess of Canada are seen at a large state funeral, where they are booed by the rest of the royal family, accused of bashing the Canadian monarchy.
Against the backlash, the couple appear on breakfast television to demand their privacy.
Arriving on the set of Good Morning Canada with a book to promote, the prince holds aloft a placard reading ‘We want privacy’, while the princess’s banner reads: ‘Stop looking at us.’
The host asks whether, in reporting on the royal family for his new book, ‘Waaagh’, he has now become a journalist himself, despite hating them.
‘We just want to be normal people – all this attention is so hard,’ the prince replies.
The couple are challenged by the host who questions how sincerely they want privacy, and the royals storm off the set.
The prince and princess arrive on the set of Good Morning Canada to boos, holding aloft placards
In Paris bemused locals look on as the couple chant: ‘We want our privacy!!’
The couple board their private jet, and embark on a worldwide ‘we want privacy’ tour – complete with dancing rainbows and a catchy theme tune.
They visit France and India where they chant their pro-privacy slogans to bemused locals – and even a field of kangaroos during a pit stop in Australia.
Eventually they settle in the quiet town of South Park, Colorado.
‘If we moved here, people would think we’re really serious about wanting to be normal.’
The royals clash with the locals, arriving with a drum kit and demanding privacy from neighbors.
Kyle wakes one morning and finds the house has been covered with magazines featuring the princess.
They include a cover strongly resembling that of The Cut magazine after it ran a cover interview with Meghan last summer.
When Kyle confronts the royals, the princess yells: ‘He victimized me!’
The prince springs to his wife’s defense.
‘This is an outrage!’ he cries. ‘We’ll see how he deals with my blue penis!’
This appears to refer to a case of frostbite detailed in Harry’s autobiography, Spare.
The prince and princess turn to a crudely-named marketing agency for help protecting their privacy.
‘There’s this horrible spy who lives across the street from us,’ the prince explains.
The branding manager says he already has a file on the princess, which she created several years ago.
‘I have your brand already: Sorority girl, actress, influencer and victim,’ he tells her.
The prince’s brand is decided as: ‘Royal prince, millionaire, world traveler, victim.’
Across the street, the Prince and Princess of Canada can be seen peering through a window as Kyle takes in their handiwork
The prince, inside the agency, suddenly has a lightbulb moment and realizes that he doesn’t want to be a brand.
‘Trying to make ourselves into a brand just turned us into products,’ the Canadian prince declares.
‘No more magazines and Netflix shows, we can just live a normal life!’
He stands to leave, and walks towards the door – but his wife remains inside the branding company.
‘Come on honey, we don’t need this place!’ he says. ‘Honey?’
The prince leaves alone.
Kyle rejoins his friends, who invite him out to play.
The prince then arrives, and asks if he can play too.
He brings out his drum kit.