Britain’s Prince Harry appeared to take aim at his adopted home during a Monday speech before the United Nations in honor of Mandela Day, lamenting the “rolling back of constitutional rights” in the United States.
The self-exiled royal seemed to be referring to the Supreme Court’s recent 6-3 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization — which resulted in a 5-4 decision overturning landmark abortion cases Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey — and he called the erosion of rights part of “a global assault on democracy and freedom.”
#BREAKING: At the United Nations, Prince Harry calls out "the rolling back of Constitutional rights in the United States" as part of "a global assault on democracy and freedom." pic.twitter.com/RnJNmkPDcp
— Forbes (@Forbes) July 18, 2022
But critics were not impressed with Harry’s assessment, and quickly took to Twitter to tell him so.
“First, sonny, piss off,” @irishspy tweeted. “Second, I believe you come from a nation wherein people can get police visits for saying mean things on the Internet and reading Churchill aloud, so don’t lecture us about freedom.”
Mixed martial artist and Special Forces veteran Tim Kennedy added, “A prince from the British Royal family is telling Americans that they should be disarmed …”
A prince from the British Royal family is telling Americans that they should be disarmed… https://t.co/o5mFed1fPX pic.twitter.com/FIjyBgdmI0
— Tim Kennedy (@TimKennedyMMA) July 18, 2022
“To use the British vernacular: ‘Sod off you twat!'” Dr. Sebastian Gorka added.
Other notable replies included:
- @inezfeltscher: “Ah yes, I am very interested in this BRITISH PRINCE’s opinions about American democracy.”
- @lahavharkov: “Sorry Harry, your family lost the right to lecture Americans on democracy after that whole taxation without representation thing.”
- @capeandcowell: “Oh thank heavens unelected woke ex royalty has chimed in about our constitutional rights.”
- @seanmdav: “We stopped carrying what emasculated British royals think about our rights 246 years ago.”
- @sethamandel: “The next war the US and UK will fight will be over who has to keep Harry.”
- @Douglascarswell: “If I was a direct descendent of George III, I would be careful about lecturing an American audience about the inadequacies of their constitutional rights.”
A number also pointed out the fact that Harry — who stepped away from the Royal Family with his wife, American actress Meghan Markle — had been critical of at least one of the constitutional rights he claimed were being rolled back.
Speaking to comedian Dax Shepard on his “Armchair Expert” podcast, Harry took aim at the First Amendment: “I’ve got so much I want to say about the First Amendment as I sort of understand it, but it is bonkers. I don’t want to start going down the First Amendment route because that’s a huge subject and one which I don’t understand because I’ve only been here a short time. But, you can find a loophole in anything. You can capitalize or exploit what’s not said rather than uphold what is said.”