US fans lap up ‘proper American’ Prince Harry after interview with Stephen Colbert

The immediate social media reaction to Prince Harry’s interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday night was largely positive, with American viewers declaring: ‘He’s our Prince now.’

The 38-year-old held nothing back as he took aim at the Royal Family during his final interview promoting his tell-all memoir, Spare, but his appearance was praised on Twitter as being ‘engaging and relaxed,’ with one viewer even saying he had the ‘charisma of an old school Hollywood star’.

Across the pond, however, the reaction to Harry’s revelations were less enthusiastic, with many British tweeters telling his American fans: ‘You can keep him.’

There was plenty of humor in the relaxed sit-down, with the Duke taking part in a skit with Tom Hanks, clinking glasses with Colbert as he praised America as a ‘great place to live’ and said how much he loves ‘beautiful California’.

The immediate social media reaction to Prince Harry’s interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday night (pictured) was largely positive, with American viewers declaring: ‘He’s our Prince now.’

This user quoted Harry telling Colbert that ‘America is a great place to live’. ‘He’s our Prince now,’ the tweeter wrote, along with a crown emoji (pictured)

 

However, not all viewers reacted positively to the interview, with watchers from Britain in particularly taking issue with some of the Prince’s claims. Many said variations of: ‘American can keep Prince Harry’

This, along with many other declarations, sparked cheers from the audience – and Harry recieved a standing ovation as he entered the studio waving to the crowd.

The level of enthusiasm from the American studio audience was matched on Twitter, with viewers also praising Colbert for the way he conducted the interview. 

Harry’s decision to sit down with Colbert raised eyebrows on account of the Late Show host’s previous anti-royal tirades.

Colbert, who is of Irish descent, has made his position clear on several occasions, accusing the Royals of being ‘racist’ and ‘inbred’.

However, the host largely held back those views when speaking with Harry on Tuesday, giving the Prince space to open up about his book while asking low-ball questions about many of the revelations contained within Spare’s pages.

Harry seemed to react well to this, striking a relaxed figure while joking with Colbert and the audience, which resonated well with viewers.

Taking to Twitter, watchers of the show descried Harry as coming across as ‘delightful’, ‘relaxed’ and ‘funny’ and expressed their joy over his positivity about America, with one person writing: ‘Prince Harry is ours now! He’s one of us!’

The message was accompanied by a gif of Colbert waving an American flag. 

‘Prince Harry is ours now! He’s one of us!’ this Twitter user writes, with an accompanying gif of Stephen Colbert waving an American flag

Another person quoted the same point in the interview, along with a gif of Homer Simpson waving an American flag above his head to chants of ‘U-S-A, U-S-A!’ (pictured)

‘Prince Harry on Stephen Colbert is another 10/10 interview,’ this user wrote. ‘He has the charisma of an old school Hollywood star. So comfortable and a great conversationalist. Think: George Clooney. So unlike the royals. Harry can sell this thing’

‘I just watched Prince Harry on Stephen Colbert, and I can’t help but like him a lot,’ another tweeter wrote. ‘So happy for him and his wife and kids that they were able to “escape”. Definitely rooting for him like I was for his mom all those yrs ago’

Another tweeted: ‘I never thought I would love Harry more than William, but here we are!! And the shoutout to America… we love having you, Sir. You are welcome’

Another quoted Harry telling Colbert that ‘America is a great place to live’. ‘He’s our Prince now,’ the tweeter wrote, along with a crown emoji.

Another person quoted the same point in the interview, along with a gif of Homer Simpson waving an American flag above his head to chants of ‘U-S-A, U-S-A!’

‘Prince Harry is even doing book promotions on Colbert. A proper American,’ another user of the social media platform joked.

Another likened Prince Harry to old school Hollywood stars.

‘Prince Harry on Stephen Colbert is another 10/10 interview,’ they wrote. ‘He has the charisma of an old school Hollywood star. 

‘So comfortable and a great conversationalist. Think: George Clooney. So unlike the royals. Harry can sell this thing. Would like more of the Prince flying solo.’

‘Prince Harry is a great guy!’ one user declared. ‘Nice personality, humble and kind. Thanks [Stephen Colbert] for having him on! I love this interview! I need a drink too.’

The same user added: ‘Colbert brought out the best in Harry! He made Harry feel comfortable. Harry seems more relaxed. Good to see Harry more chill, funny and witty. […] A mixture of serious and comical.’

One wrote: ‘I never thought I would love Harry more than William, but here we are!! And the shoutout to America… we love having you, Sir. You are welcome.’

Reacting to a clip showing the cheers Harry recieved as he entered the studio, another user wrote: ‘I LOVE THIS FOR HIM. I hope he knows he has his supporters. Even if we are quieter than the haters.’

‘I just watched Prince Harry on Stephen Colbert, and I can’t help but like him a lot,’ another tweeter wrote. ‘So happy for him and his wife and kids that they were able to “escape”. Definitely rooting for him like I was for his mom all those yrs ago.’

‘Colbert brought out the best in Harry! He made Harry feel comfortable. Harry seems more relaxed. Good to see Harry more chill, funny and witty. […] A mixture of serious and comical’

‘The Prince Harry interview on #Colbert is fabulous!’ another Twitter user said, with an accompanying gif of TV host Steve Harvey clapping and cheering (pictured)

Pictured: American fans of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were full of praise for Harry

Many praised Colbert for his interview style, and for making Prince Harry relaxed enough to open up about some of the difficult topics in Space.

‘Prince Harry being charming, reflective, serious, funny and keeping it real on the Late Show. Colbert doing a great job balancing seriousness with comic relief! So good,’ one person swooned over the show.

‘The Prince Harry interview on #Colbert is fabulous!’ another said, with an accompanying gif of TV host Steve Harvey clapping and cheering.

Another user said that of all the interviews Harry has done to promote his book, the one with Colbert had been his ‘best’.

‘Prince Harry comes across as incredibly authentic, emotionally open funny AND charismatic – I get why he was perceived as a threat. Colbert by far his best interview,’ they wrote.

However, not all viewers reacted positively to the interview, with watchers from Britain in particularly taking issue with some of the Prince’s claims.

‘Just pressed play on Prince Harry interview with Colbert and Americans are too much… Why are you giving the man a standing ovation?’ one person wrote.

Another user criticized Prince Harry for not taking the opportunity of appearing on Colbert’s show to promote causes other than his book (pictured)

‘American can keep Prince Harry,’ one person wrote in the wake of his prime-time appearance. ‘Please, America keep Prince Harry, we don’t want him back. Thank you,’ another said. 

Another said: ‘Just pressed play on Prince Harry interview with Colbert and Americans are too much… Why are you giving the man a standing ovation?’ 

In one withering review, podcaster David Vance wrote: ‘The only thing more irritating than Prince Harry is Stephen Colbert.’

Others pointed out that Harry’s perception of living in America is very different to most, on account of him living in a $14million mansion in Montecito.

‘Prince Harry says, “America is a great place to live.” Sure, if you are a wealthy & famous royal prince,’ one person wrote. ‘As a commoner immigrant, living in a cra**y leaky condo in Southern California and emptying buckets of #LArain isn’t that great.’

Another user criticized Prince Harry for not taking the opportunity of appearing on Colbert’s show to promote causes other than his book. 

‘Imagine if Prince Harry had spent a year developing charitable projects, campaigning for Afghan women, or any other useful thing for humanity… and went on Colbert to talk about that instead,’ they wrote. ‘What a waste of a platform.’

Meanwhile, disappointed fans of the CBS talk show bristled on Tuesday when they were told by the host that the Duke of Sussex was not going to appear in front of them – on account of his interview being filmed a day earlier in New York City.

One loudly said, ‘are you serious’ after Colbert apologized to the audience for not telling them Harry was not going to be in attendance before explaining that it was done for security reasons.

Many of the audience had traveled to the Ed Sullivan Theater from all over the state to see the royal, with one woman telling DailyMail.com that it ‘wasn’t worth’ waiting out in the cold. 

Colbert, who rarely holds back when it comes mocking those in his crosshairs, has form when it comes to laying into Britain’s Royal Family. In one past segment, he branded them a ‘group of inbred, gin-soaked jumped-up medieval gangsters’. 

In his several years of hosting the show, he has blasted the Queen, King Charles III (while he was still the Prince of Wales and after he became King), Queen Consort Camilla, Harry, Meghan and – on several occasions – Prince Andrew.

Ahead of a segment discussing The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee last year, Colbert – who is of Irish descent – told his viewers: ‘Longtime viewers of this show will know that I am not normally a huge fan of the British Royal Family,’ turning the camera to say: ‘Give me back my family’s land!’

The Late Show host Stephen Colbert (right) takes a selfie with Prince Harry (left)

Pictured: Colbert dresses up to deliver the Royal’s official statement to his audience, which was shared by Buckingham Palace following Harry and Meghan’s interview with Oprah

Colbert spoke about The Queen taking part in a sketch in which she ‘had tea’ with a computer generated Paddington Bear. ‘So lifelike,’ he said. ‘Same with Paddington.’

In a separate segment in the wake of Queen Elizabeth stripping Andrew – her son and the brother to the now-King Charles – of his royal titles amid sexual assault accusations and questions over his links to late pedophile financier Jeffery Epstein, the late night host gave the royals both barrels.

‘Across the pond, Queen Elizabeth has stripped Prince Andrew of his titles’ he announced in the news round-up segment that aired in January 2022. ‘So from here on out, he’s the Andrew formerly known as prince.

‘You know, it’s gotta be bad when the royal family – a group of inbred, gin-soaked jumped-up medieval gangsters that are the product of an inherently racist class system, who have all their money from ravaging the world and stripping the gold teeth out of pensioners — say, “He did what?!”‘

Andrew has vehemently denied all accusations made against him. Later in 2022, he paid an out-of-court settlement of £12million to his accuser, Virginia Giuffre.

Colbert also targeted Britain’s royal protocols ahead of the Queen’s funeral.

He compared the monarchy to the NFL, saying they both ‘take a lot of time,’ that they both have ‘a lot of weird rules,’ and that ‘there’s a surprising amount of tacky jewelry,’ to a loud round of applause as a picture of The Queen was shown.

He mocked a story about how a royal bee keeper had to inform the Queen’s bees that the Queen had died, asking: ‘OK, is Britain real?’

Addressing ‘all of our UK viewers,’ he said: ‘I’m sorry to say, all of your money with Queen Elizabeth’s face on it is now worthless. But, I got your back. Just send me two of your old worthless Lizzie Bills, and I’ll send you back a shiny chuck buck.’

At this point, Colbert pulled out a hand-drawn ‘bank note’ with a picture, supposedly of King Charles, with extremely large ears.

In the same segment, he took aim at King Charles for a second time, and his wife Camilla. ‘The new King and Queen are already hard at work,’ he said, with a picture of the pair flashing up on the screen sitting in the Houses of Parliament.

They were sitting, he said, ‘on what I believe are the official thrones of Great Britain. Either that, or they are the new judges on the voice.’

In his several years of hosting the show, Colbert has blasted the Queen, King Charles III (while he was still the Prince of Wales, and after be became King), Queen Consort Camilla, Harry, Meghan and – on several occasions – Prince Andrew

Following Harry and Meghan’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, Colbert joked in a March 2021 segment: ‘Things got real, real quick’. 

In the interview, Meghan said she approached the Royal Family’s human resources department for help with the issues she was facing while living in London.

‘You’d think someone in human resources would have stepped in to tell Henry VIII that chopping off his wife’s head could be considered a hostile work environment,’ Colbert quipped.

But one of the most shocking moments from the interview came when Meghan claimed that an unnamed member of the Royal family expressed their concern over what color skin her and Harry’s baby would have.

‘I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say there’s a possibility, just a possibility mind you, that this medieval selective breeding program might be … racist,’ Colbert said.

‘It’s never good when the British ruling class think that someone’s skin is too dark. They steal their land and make them play cricket,’ he added.

In a follow up segment the day after, Colbert said ‘everyone’ was still talking about Oprah’s interview with the ‘Duke and Duchess of Netflix’. 

Of the accusation that the Royal Family is racist, Colbert said: ‘Tough charge. I’m sure that made their hackles rise. One of the signs of inbreeding is a risen hackle.’

Telling his viewers that Buckingham Palace had issues a statement following the Oprah interview, Colbert pulled out a scroll and put on a feathered admiral hat, shouting ‘hear ye, hear ye’ while ringing a bell.

When Harry and Meghan first stepped down from Royal duties in 2020, Colbert cheered them on in one segment, saying ‘good for them for leaving,’ accusing the British press of racism and causing ‘Megxit,’ or as he called: ‘Harabdication.’

The late night host expressed his shock upon learning the couple had been living in a house called Frogmore Cottage. ‘Wait, there’s an actual place called Frogmore Cottage?’ he asked rhetorically.

‘That sounds made up, like Hogwarts, Humpty Dumpty, or Benedict Cumberbatch.’

Following Harry and Meghan’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, Colbert joked in a March 2021 segment: ‘Things got real, real quick’ if reference to racism claims

Bookshops in the UK opened early on Tuesday as Harry’s tell-all book Spare hit the shelves – but queues were sparse following leaks ahead of the publication and early sales in Spain. Pictured: Spare is seen in a bookshop in Britain

At the end of the segment, Colbert suggested that he could replace Harry and Meghan to fulfil the Royal duties they had stepped away from.

‘Maybe a Megxit means… a Colbentrace,’ he proposed. ‘Hi, how are ya? Mrs Queen, can I call you Queeny? My name is Stephen Colbert. I’m interested in the position of Royal Highness. I have no formal training in being a prince, but I have been told I’m a royal pain in the a**.

‘Anyway, I’m a fast learner, I’m highly motivated, I can wave backwards, and I’ve never met Jeffery Epstein,’ he joked – to raucous laughter.