The British Tabloids Say ‘South Park’ May Have Caused a Rift in Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Marriage

Any marriage that goes through a rough patch because of an episode of South Park must be between two people who are either really famous or really foolish – or both.

The British paparazzi would have us believe that this is the case between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle following last week’s lambasting of the royal renegades by Trey Parker and Matt Stone on their animated iconoclastic satirical series. The episode titled “The Worldwide Privacy Tour'' showed the Prince of Canada and his Instagram-obsessed wife moving to the sleepy town of South Park, Colorado to protect their privacy with fireworks displays and media blitzes. Though no real-life royals were named in the episode, the plot was clearly inspired by the publicity megastorm summoned by the prince and his partner when they left the British royal family in 2020 and began life at their new home on the soundstage of every major media outlet in the western hemisphere. 

According to “insiders” at The Spectator, the royal couple are furious over their South Park portrayal and are “taking it out on each other” inside the comfortable confines of their nine-bedroom California mansion. At least they’re not doing it on yet another talk show.

The Spectator piece quickly made the rounds as UK tabloids and American media cesspits alike jumped on the newest piece of red meat for royal-obsessed readers who have an ax to grind with the American actress and her English prince. Fox News even attempted to create controversy by claiming that the couple’s legal team was exploring actionable offenses in the episode and may even sue the South Park creators – a spokesperson for the royal couple called such reports “absolute nonsense.”

This story does seem like a perfect storm for people who have had it out for Markle and her supposed influence on the friction between the prince and his patrician family – the report plays into the perception of Markle as oversensitive and image-obsessed, and, as a rule, any time someone gets butthurt over a South Park portrayal, it becomes exponentially more fun to make fun of them.

It's telling, however, that the royal couple has made no public comment about the episode beyond shooting down Fox News' farcical lawsuit report – maybe they really do just want privacy after all.