Piers Morgan Uncensored - Prince Harry and Meghan's Unofficial Tour of Africa

Episode Date: May 15, 2024

After their contentious departure from the duties of royal life, Piers Morgan reports that the Sussexes are now touring Africa, but with a decidedly royal bent to the proceedings. Piers Morgan Uncens...ored is joined by historian Tessa Dunlop, family lawyer Paula Rhone-Adrien, royal commentators Sarah Hewson and Kinsey Schofield to discuss whether Harry and Meghan’s tour is appropriate after all that has happened. Piers fiercely argues that it’s not, but other panellists believe there’s more to this story. Tessa Dunlop in particular, praises the young prince’s charismatic nature. Piers Morgan Uncensored is the global arena for fearless debate, bold opinions and major interviews. Subscribe for all-new and exclusive daily content.  YouTube: @PiersMorganUncensored X: @PiersUncensored TikTok: @piersmorganuncensored Insta: @piersmorganuncensored Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Well, Harry and Megan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, are not working royals. They've made that repeatedly and screamingly clear to anyone he wants to hear it. Podcasters, authors, influencers, jam sellers, sure. But they left us in no doubt when they left Britain and the royal family that their royal duties were done. No more flower shows on a wet Wednesday in Stoke. So it came as something of a surprise to many of us this week when the formerly royal couple landed in Nigeria in Africa to embark on what looks sound. and felt very much like a normal official royal tour. In fact, it ticked every single box on the royal tour clipboard.
Starting point is 00:00:38 It was a lavish welcome ceremony, festooned in traditional decorations and attended by glad-handing local dignitaries. There were photo opportunities at local schools and warm handshakes with beaming children. There was a visit to the state governor house with speeches and tributes from officials. This was certainly no holiday, nor was it a private visit.
Starting point is 00:00:57 It was a renegade royal operation in full swing. and a booming look at what you could have one message to their ailing family in Windsor. Megan even revealed that she is Nigerian after taking a DNA test. But as she explained to audiences in her typically humble and self-effacing style, the clues were there all along. And what has been echoed so much, really, in the past day, by men and women alike is, oh, we weren't surprised me about that with you're in Nigeria. I know, and I say that, mostly is a compliment to all of them.
Starting point is 00:01:30 of you because what they define as a Nigerian woman is brave, resilient, courageous power. Humbling, that is the word you'd associate with her, isn't it? Well, Harry and Megan knew exactly what they were doing, of course, and I'm sorry, I'm very cynical about it. In the buildup to their wedding, commentators heralded the boundary-breaking power of the newly biracial monarchy. That fact has been lost in the onslaught of race baiting the couple have unleashed ever since. But I know it's true, because I wrote that myself on the day of the wedding.
Starting point is 00:02:01 The actual royal family, meanwhile, has an increasingly fraught relationship with the former colonial nations, not helped by the brazen and discredited accusations of racism flowing from the successes themselves. Prince William and Princess Catherine were pillory for perceived missteps on a tour of Jamaica, where they shook hands with locals to a chain-link fence. The royals are met with ill-conceived demands for reparations and apologies for ancestral sins on every royal at all these days, culminating King Charles sang missing a speech in Rwanda. It seems to me... that there are lessons in this for our Commonwealth family.
Starting point is 00:02:35 For while we strive together for peace, prosperity, and democracy, I want to acknowledge that the roots of our contemporary association run deep into the most painful period of our history. I cannot describe the depths of my personal sorrow at the suffering of so many, as I continue to deepen my own understanding of some people. slavery's enduring impact. Important to remember it was Britain, of course, who began the end of slavery.
Starting point is 00:03:08 Never gets mentioned in any of these debates. But they knew the context of Sussex. If one thing we learned about Harry and Megan's family, trashing money, grabbing strategies since they quit the UK and the Royal Duty, it said they don't do anything by accident. Every frame of this trip was storyboarded for maximum impact, clearly the lucrative deals that fund their lavish California lifestyle. Might be running a little dry,
Starting point is 00:03:29 Rebooting this rent-a-royal racket is a profitable way of rekindling interest in their fading brand. Some commentators are even speculating that Megan fancies herself as a future American president. And to be fair, the campaign slogans are they right themselves?
Starting point is 00:03:44 Make America hate again? Build back bitter. Or maybe just lock her up. Would you want me discuss always author and historian, Tessa Dunlott, Laura Paula Rone Adrian, Royal editor Sarah Houston and from Los Angeles,
Starting point is 00:03:56 the Royal Commentator on the host of Kinsey's Coeport and Unfiltered, Kinsey Schofel. Welcome to all of you. All right, Sarah, let's start with you. I mean, I've watched this stuff there on a peripheral level, perfectly successful trip. I'm sure they're thrilled.
Starting point is 00:04:12 The real concern is that we now have two royal families. We have the official royal family who represent the monarchy, and we have these two now pretending that they are another official member, arm of the royal family. There ain't room for two, is it? Well, what's marked about this, I spent many a week and month covering royal tours.
Starting point is 00:04:36 And this does look and feel like a royal tour. It had all of the ingredients there. The difference being they weren't acting on the behest of the Foreign and Commonwealth office. They were invited by the Nigerian chief of the defence staff. I don't have a massive problem with them going out to Nigeria to work around the Invictus games. and actually what Harry has done around the Invictus Games needs to be lorded and praised, credit where credit is due.
Starting point is 00:05:03 But what they were doing is effectively what they wanted to achieve from that infamous Sandringham summit. They wanted to be financially independent. They wanted to go and live their lives away from the royal family, but they wanted to dip in and out where they could. They said they wanted to continue to support the Crown and the Commonwealth. And you'll remember that statement that was put out at the time of Megxit
Starting point is 00:05:23 where there was that comment slightly veiled comment that everyone can serve, service is universal. And I think from their perspective, that's what they're doing, continuing to serve. But yes, it did look like a royal tour and particularly notable because we haven't had any big royal tours. No, well, the reason for that. Like this, because of COVID, because of the kids. Also, let's remind ourselves, Tessa Dunlop,
Starting point is 00:05:47 before you launch into your impassioned defence, no doubt, of how wonderful this all this, that the king of this country is currently stricken with cancer and can't perform the duties he wants to perform. And his son and heir, his wife also has cancer and can't perform duties. So as the senior members of Royal Family here are stricken by very serious illness,
Starting point is 00:06:10 the very, very last thing they want is to have these two coming in from California and effectively supplanting them on these unofficial royal tours, soaking up all the attention that should be on. on the actual people who put the shifts in for duty in this country, not the renegades filling their pockets. Discuss.
Starting point is 00:06:33 Small case of sour grapes on your part, I think. Why? I've already said it. From their point of view, very successful. It's not sour grapes. There's no room for two royal families doing the same thing. Clearly is. I mean, we're sitting here discussing it. Newspapers have been full of it. You've said yourself that one royal family is out of action. So up they step, your issue is. they're not being dutiful in the name of Great Britain. No.
Starting point is 00:06:56 And you are a fiendish patriot, as we know, and a very proud... I don't know. It's because they've been given their titles by the British monarchy. They weren't given them by the Nigerian monarchy or the California monarchy. They were given these titles which they now exploit the vast financial gain by the monarchy of this country. And we've been through this before, Piers. Once a prince, always a prince. You are the one who believes passionately in hereditary monarchy.
Starting point is 00:07:22 But let's just also remember you choose the word stricken and the king's been up against it. Not a young man, nasty cancer diagnosis, treatment, he's been brave, he's been open. But he has been out and about. He did have time to award his son very publicly, the colonel and chief of the Army Air Corps. Overlapping, you could say deliberately with the Nigerian Corps, having not been able to find time to have a little cup of tea with his second son. There was no great prodigal son greeting. Sorry, are you suggesting in some way that the king and his heir of his country
Starting point is 00:07:56 should plan their schedules around what Megan and Harry are doing on the renegade tours? They should ring them up after they'd been trashed by them for years and say, hey, by the way, are you doing any tour stuff this week because we quite fancy doing our jobs? It's outrageous! Chill out, all I'm suggesting is if there was improved communication, if the king had found time for a couple of people.
Starting point is 00:08:19 But actually, they could have talked to each other last. last week. Why? I was an active decision, clearly on the part of the raw family, that there was to be no overlap between Harry and Charles. And you know, the optics weren't great around that. Actually, you know, we might speak to people like old men like you and grey suits. I'd have done exactly the same thing, Paula. You're a family lawyer.
Starting point is 00:08:36 I'm afraid if one of my sons went rogue like this with his wife and spent years trashing my family in public in the way that they've done, causing immeasurable damage at a time when Philip died, the Queen died, Charles has cancer, Kay has cancer, they wouldn't get one second of my time. They would, and let me tell you why they would. Well, you can't tell me why I think. Because time...
Starting point is 00:09:03 Sorry, with respect, you can't tell me what I would do. I'm telling you, they would get zero time. I'm going to give you the opportunity to change your mind. Go on then. And that's the important lesson here. Good luck with that. Because we saw this with King Charles when he was Prince Charles and the fallout from his divorce with Diana.
Starting point is 00:09:22 We saw them both sell their stories. First of all, behind a veil, telling us that it was through the voice of others and had nothing to do with him. And it was only after, sadly, the loss of Diana that we found out through Andrew Malton that actually he had met with her in person. In the same way that we understand
Starting point is 00:09:38 that Prince Charles had met with Jonathan Dimbleby and done work with him. So we've been here before. Prince Charles knows, King Charles, forgive me. He knows about selling stories. He knows about the damage that can be done when family stories can be exposed when family stories. When did Charles sell a story?
Starting point is 00:09:59 And family stories can be. She's right. The Dimbabee Prince of Wales book was done. Sell a story. No, but he doesn't need to sell him. At the time he was paid by the civil list, but he did help facilitate it. But he helped facilitate it which built the royal brand, which built his brand. The royal family take part all the time in brand.
Starting point is 00:10:18 That is part of the job of being a royal. Pears, you know that what I'm saying, at the very bottom level, at the foundation level is, we've been here before. This family have sold stories about each other before. You're missing the point. No, what is important now is that we learn to move forward. How?
Starting point is 00:10:42 And we have seen how Prince Harry and Meghan have moved forward. and they've done so brilliantly. You loved it. Impressively. And quite frankly, in a very statesman-like way. Really. And I think that the issue here is not actually that you're unhappy that they've done this. What you're unhappy about is that they've done it so well.
Starting point is 00:11:04 No, I started by saying it's been successful for them. What I'm unhappy about is that they are now constructing a rival royal family, but they're not putting any shift in of actual duty, which is part of the contract with the business. British people. They've deserted the country. They've deserted their family. And now we're setting up a rival thing for one reason. Nothing else they've done commercially has been working recently. Right. So now they're, now they're playing the, now they're playing, actually we're royals again. We're royals again. Remember, spare was the number one bestseller
Starting point is 00:11:36 in UK. I said recently. I said recently. I said recently. I think what we need is doing well. Let me bring in. Hang on. What we need actually is like Kinsey have a word. Kinsey, you're in America. I mean, I was in the States recently, LA, actually, and New York, and I've got to say, there was a lot of visceral dislike for the Sussexes. They were being really depicted by people that I spoke to as people who were like, rent a celebrity now, prepared to do anything, and their only currency was trashing their family.
Starting point is 00:12:06 Well, they're now trying to play a different currency, which is to be effectively a rival royal family, doing rival royal tours, while several senior members of the family here are incapacitated. I think it stinks, but how is this playing in America? I mean, I agree with you. They are two very polarizing individuals, and their only commercial success in the States was Spare
Starting point is 00:12:31 and the Harry and Megan Netflix documentary, both of those entities tearing apart the British royal family. When you look at Live to Lead or Heart of Invictus, commercial flops here in the States. So I do think that their new PR advisors are telling them, why did people fall in love with you in the first place? You've got to remind them when and how they fell in love with you. So they created this faux royal tour. So they get those visuals and those, you know, that is marketing material that they can use going forward to present themselves as at least associated with the royal family,
Starting point is 00:13:08 which is their really only claim to fame. They need that so that they can try to develop this life. lifestyle brand in American Riviera Orchard, and try to get people interested in this content that's coming up on Netflix, where Netflix has again insisted that they are in front of the camera. Yeah, I mean, Sarah, the problem it seems to me is, and actually you guys have touched on this already about the clash of schedules. The schedules of the royal family, as you know, from covering them for so long, they're extremely carefully planned. Well, they're meant to be.
Starting point is 00:13:38 It's not always. Yeah, it doesn't always work. But historically, they do it so we don't overlap each other. So Charles will have his week where this is an hour's. Kate will do her week, whatever. If you have two people who you have no idea what they're doing, right, and they're just planning their own things to try and steal attention. Again, it comes back to my thing.
Starting point is 00:13:57 If you're on monarchy like me and you believe in the royal family, you believe it's a massive plus for this country, all I'm seeing this do is chip away at the actual royal family and monarchy here. Well, this should have been a year when members of the royal family did head out to visit Commonwealth countries. They should have been doing that. We haven't had that. We've got Harry and Megan. And I think what this tour has done is highlight just the role they could have played had they remained within the Royal Family because they have an ability to reach people that other members of Royal Family cards. The role that some of us wrote very, very glowingly about on their wedding day,
Starting point is 00:14:30 that this is fantastic for the family. It was their behaviour which led to them being driven out. But actually, and you talked about some of the optics and the imagery, that image that was taken by their friend, Miss Anne Harriman, because of course this was a very tightly controlled in terms of media access as well. But there is a very powerful image of Harry sitting beside a hospital bed with a wounded Nigerian soldier who is now an amputee
Starting point is 00:14:53 holding onto his hand. And it reminded me of Princess Diana and actually those tools that she took on after her divorce. And, you know, there is nothing wrong with what they're doing. It is just difficult for the role family and they're unable to do that.
Starting point is 00:15:10 Look, it highlights the fact that they're unable to do that. to do these things right now. I mean, what Diana did was damaging. Let's be honest, what she did distracted all the attention away from Charles and the others here. But then her work on landmines, for example, the HALO trust is one of the charities
Starting point is 00:15:24 that their archwell is supporting. It was great, but you can't deny it. You can't say that that's wrong to be doing. No, no, I'm not saying it's wrong. And the evictors games are a remarkably good thing, right? I absolutely, I've got lots of servicemen in my family, right? It's a great thing. No one disputes that.
Starting point is 00:15:37 And from a pure optics point of view, this was a very successful trip, right? That's the problem, is if, we're now going to have a rival royal family stealing attention, oxygen, media coverage and so on, away from the world's here. At a perilous time for the royal family, I don't like it.
Starting point is 00:15:53 But all the polling says that those members, you know, Kate, William, the King are still far, far more popular. They are, but if this... Hang on. It'd be interesting to take some polling from places like Africa after tools like this
Starting point is 00:16:07 about what they think, given the problems of the rules have had on their tools of the Caribbean. We've done so much naval gazing in this country. You're right, our king represents way more than just Little Britain. But we keep on saying, oh, he's copying or it's just like Diana. I was speaking to the most extraordinary woman today.
Starting point is 00:16:22 Helen Lewis, her son, Aaron Lewis, dies in Afghanistan. She helped set up the Aaron Lewis Foundation doing all the kind of work that overlaps with Harry. She consistently was just chatting away. She had no idea I have an interest in royalty. We were talking about something separate. And she actually said at these commemorative events, you tend to go around on a bit of a circuit. And, you know, my grandson's called Harrison.
Starting point is 00:16:43 And we often see Prince Harry, and he's ever since he was young, working alongside Prince Philip. He's had the most extraordinary ability to reach children. He then tapped up my grandson and, you know, made sure. What does that have to do with the debate? Because the point is Harry has a gift, and it might make us all feel uncomfortable, but it was there before he left the Royal Family. We often talked about it, Harry's charisma.
Starting point is 00:17:03 You can't implant it in someone. You can't force it on someone. But he has it. And what upsets you is you're seeing it used in a way that you feel undermined the Royal Family. you weirdly, I think deliberately misconstrued what upsets me. No. It's got nothing to do with him being charismatic around children, right? It does, because actually that's part of the brand and it's very powerful.
Starting point is 00:17:23 My anger towards the pair of them for the last few years has all been because of the damage they're doing the royal family and the monarchy. But that was obvious that was going to happen. So why didn't the royal family try and work towards the half in half out? But here, when you talk about the damage they have done to the royal family, let me play devil's advocate. and if you're right that they have damaged the royal family, hasn't Sarah just explained to us that actually that isn't the case
Starting point is 00:17:48 and that they're riding high in the polls? Well, they're not. Who are you talking about? King Charles. Oh, the other rules, right. Yes, yeah, the other rules. And so any damage that they're said to have caused, well, actually, actually, it hasn't impacted.
Starting point is 00:17:59 Let me respond. It hasn't impacted in the way that you think it has. And so there is no rivalry here. Fine, let me respond. You're missing the point. Support for the monarchy is. falling. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:18:11 Right? So actually, look at those balls. That's a different topic, isn't it? Sarah's talking about. And that's what I'm talking about. And that's what I'm talking about. But if you look at overall support for the rules, particularly amongst young people, it is falling.
Starting point is 00:18:21 There is a generation of issue. Exactly. And is that Harry Megan's fault. I think a lot of it, yeah. I mean, that is. A lot of it. It's also partly the people like you. The point is.
Starting point is 00:18:31 It's also partly the fault of people like you, because you drive this great divide between the generations, between the two counts. It's not me trashing his family. No, but you are very vocal. The. Tim trashing his family. On the writing centre media.
Starting point is 00:18:41 I didn't call the Royal Family a bunch of Callas races. With no evidence. They did. They did. They did. They did. They did. They did.
Starting point is 00:18:49 With coming to terms with the part they played in colonialism, Harry and Megan are a tiny part of that. And to suggest that somehow... That is so disingenuous. Just to just that somehow... Harry and Megan have swayed. The idea that the only non-white bride in royal history going to a country like Nigeria is not some...
Starting point is 00:19:09 somehow going to be damaging, given how estranged she is from the family. They were invited there from September. They should have said no. Why? Because they shouldn't be doing what they're doing these rival tours. No, they shouldn't be doing it. And it would suit who if they said no. I thought they were doing a marvelous job in support of 14 in duties.
Starting point is 00:19:29 But what I don't understand is. That's not what they said. Turned out they do if they're making money. I didn't understand that's what they said. If it promotes their brand and they make money, we're in. Oh, yeah. What are they like to do? You don't want them making jam.
Starting point is 00:19:44 You don't want them going on tours. You don't want them trashing their family. What do you want them to do? No, actually, they can make jam. They can do podcasts. They can do TV. They can do speeches. They can do it all, just not as members of the Royal Family.
Starting point is 00:19:57 No longer Duke and Dutch the Sussex. What about supporting their charities? Sorry. It's about supporting their charities. They were there to support. They were there to support the titles and make money off them. That's why they were there. How can you keep the title?
Starting point is 00:20:08 They were invited there in September. So long before anybody knew about the sad news in terms of the community. There's a level of hypocrisy here that Pierce picks up and sets him. And there is validity to that. There is a level of hypocrisy. Of course. It is a little bit uncomfortable. But you could say they earned it.
Starting point is 00:20:26 We don't want to be constrained by royal life. But here's our royal life. Harry did his time in the institution. He's walked free and he's kept his title. Once a prince, always a prince, Pierce. It's a shooting you won't bore them. I couldn't. Literally, I come from.
Starting point is 00:20:38 I spent more time there at the weekend than he and his wife have spent, I think, in their lives. But you're a pleb and he's a prince. I'm not fair. I'm actually a peers of the realm. Let me bring back Kinsey. Kinsey, what is the American view of these two? And when I was there, all they wanted to talk about was how is King Charles and how is Kate.
Starting point is 00:20:58 But what is the American view, do you think, just generally, of Megan and Harry? Well, first of all, I'll tell you that the American view is that you are a prince, Pierce. You're America's place. Thank you, Kudely. You know, I think that they're having a really hard time here in the state, specifically in Hollywood, because they have been turned into a punchline.
Starting point is 00:21:16 They have been turned into a joke. You know, Saturday Night Live is a very liberal institution. And even, you know, Harry and Megan aren't safe from Weekend Update regularly. They're taking shots at them on a regular basis on Saturday Night Live. I know you've seen South Park and some of these other shows. And I think that they really just, they low. the fact that they have become a joke in the States and in Hollywood because they want to be taken seriously.
Starting point is 00:21:43 That's why this tour was so important to him, to both of them. I think that they want to be considered serious individuals. Yeah, well, actually, what they want to do is re-sement their royal credentials because that's where the money is. If they don't have them and they can't do what they just did in Nigeria, then there's no point to them. They've done the trashing. People are bored with that.
Starting point is 00:22:03 There's nothing left to trash. So they've trashed both their families. are estranged from both sets of families on both sides. Pretty much the only family member they talked to seems to be her mother. That's it. On either side, it's quite extraordinary. And yet they are out there preaching about compassion and family and all these things. I'm not laughing.
Starting point is 00:22:24 This is a joke? Literally can't think of two less compassionate people on God's earth. Anyways, let's turn to something probably less contentious. Or maybe not, which is the new portrait of King Charles by an old friend of mine, actually, Jonathan Yeo, great guy, son of a formatory MP. And this was the unveiling where Charles got to see this very vivid kind of blood-red image. I thought Charles's head was fantastic in terms of a detail. And little details like a little butterfly on the shoulder, what that meant.
Starting point is 00:22:59 Now, it sparks a lot of memes. Let's have a bit of a laugh first. These are the comedic memes that have been borne out of this portrait. King Charles painting reminds me of the Ghostbusters Vigo villain said Mark Harris, Trevor Sumner, King Charles painting reminds me of Dracula, the poster from the movie. Slain by Elf said, did somebody say that painting looks like Charles emerging from the flames of hell?
Starting point is 00:23:29 I don't think they did, no, Slane by other, you did. And Narenda Kowah said, I love this portrait. It's magnificent. Will King Charles be the one to emerge from the bloody past of the monarchy and be the first monarch to apologise. Okay, so, look, there's been some fun reaction. There's been some serious reaction and some, as you'd expect, from social media,
Starting point is 00:23:53 some appallingly distasteful and inappropriate reaction, which we'll skirt over. But first of all, what do you think of the picture? Sarah? My first reaction was, whoa, gosh, it's huge and it's red. The more I look at it, the more I love this portrait. Why?
Starting point is 00:24:08 Because the face stands out. Everything else fades into the background. Jonathan Yeo has combined the traditional portrait. There he is in the uniform with the Welsh guards leaning on a sword, but made it contemporary. And all of that regalia actually fades into the background and you just look at the man and that face. And the detail of the monarch butterfly just touching on his shoulder
Starting point is 00:24:30 apparently proposed by the king himself during one of the... And significance of the butterfly is what? Well, he wanted to talk about metamorphosis. This is a project that's been going on for four years. It was commissioned in 2020. Four different sittings of that. Four different sittings between June, 2021, November, 2023, from the Prince of Wales to becoming the king.
Starting point is 00:24:50 And so this shows that process of transition he's been through. It's also an endangered species. It's a nod to the king's love of the environment as well. Is it nod to his own range, you think? Because it is a monarch butterfly. It is a monarch butterfly. It's all a bit uncomfortable. Is it uncomfortable?
Starting point is 00:25:05 Well, I find that a little bit uncomfortable. What did you think of the picture? Well, as a woman of a certain age, I've got to say that it screamed to me of red mist, rage, the way I feel when I sit in front of you and even a bit of menstrual tension going on there. Menstrual tension. It was just a bit scarlet. That's all. It was just a little bit scarlet.
Starting point is 00:25:24 But actually, I don't know why it's red, dear. No, because of the Welsh car. He used the costume and then he's plastic. That's to do with your menstrual cycle. But we all have our own personal response to art, and that was mine. I was coming off an airplane. You literally looked at that person. painting a thought of your menstrual cycle?
Starting point is 00:25:40 I forgot my suitcase. I was so struck by it, actually, as I touched down in Gatwick yesterday, I was so blinded by this, yeah, red spot. Anyway, I then got, tried to think more academically or historically, and apparently it's all about the red prince, painted partly when he was a prince, which also is a bit worrying because it was when John of Gorn was on his deathbed,
Starting point is 00:25:59 ruining the idea of the next king, Richard III, and going, oh, goodness, this scepter aisle, this, what is it? I think I wrote bits of it down. This other Eden, demi-paradise. the imperiled Britain. So is Charles overseeing an imperiled Britain? Are you massively overthinking?
Starting point is 00:26:14 I'm talking about, Paula. This idea of it is all about the colonial British history, soaked in blood and gall, with a butterfly on his shoulder. I'll be now dragging ourselves away from the colonial barbarism, which has bedeviled this country in our dreadful monarchy.
Starting point is 00:26:30 I mean, I need to come back to that comment because you're saying it with a tone of cynicism that it's worrying me. Let me just answer your question in relation to what I thought of the picture. And it goes back to the topic of how the royal family as an institution is being challenged at the moment. When you look at that picture, Peers,
Starting point is 00:26:53 does that picture screen to you TikTok generation? Actually, what a screen to me? No, it doesn't. It's a very challenging... Can I answer the question? Well, when I finished, it's a very challenging picture. one that I think a lot of teenagers are going to struggle to comprehend. Have you been on TikTok?
Starting point is 00:27:12 Without having some lessons. I actually think Johnny Yeo. And that traditional portrait have reached out, made any more sense to a teenager? I think it would have done. I think it's a masterpiece because he's managed to blend traditional with something very contemporary. And actually, yeah, it reminded me of a TikTok.
Starting point is 00:27:31 It's actually made for the TikTok generation. Did you not think of your period, then, Piz? No, I did. But he also got a seal of approval of the most important person, which was Queen Camilla, who said, you've got him. Yeah, and she has. His face is brilliant, without a doubt. I love it.
Starting point is 00:27:44 You know, we're all talking about it on the front page of all the papers. He's a smart painting by a very smart guy. He once did Johnny Ear, wants to do a portrait of George Bush when he's president. We weren't made up entirely of porn magazine covers, right? And no one realized until we looked really closely. And it was brilliant. He's an artistic genius. So I think it's great.
Starting point is 00:28:01 Kinsey, what do you think of it? Yeah, I love the way that they captured his job. gentle face. I thought it was a beautiful picture. I think it's whimsical like he is, and I think that it's lovely. If the TikTok generation doesn't get it, that's like the least of their problems. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:28:17 Well, they need their generation. I'm not sure that's true. I mean, I don't want to labour the point, but why does everything have to always come back to empire, colonial past, blood and go? Why can't we for once just go, you know what? Let's look forward.
Starting point is 00:28:33 There's a lovely butter on his shoulder. but metamorphous to a great monarch? Why can't we just be positive? Why do we have to always drag it back hundreds of years to when people did unspeakable things to each other? It's intriguing that you talk about history and we've been talking about history in this conversation
Starting point is 00:28:52 and yet when you talk about colonialism and the damage that it has caused. Who began the end of slavery? Who began the end of slavery? To talk about the end of slavery. To talk about the end of slavery, we have to talk about the big thing of slavery. And I think we've done that.
Starting point is 00:29:07 Well, have we? Oh, I think so, Paula. Because you've had enough. Well, I've had enough. It's not about... It's not about... What is the point of constantly relitigating it? ...about colonialism that spans the world.
Starting point is 00:29:20 This conversation about colonialism is not going to stop just because you have had enough. What conversations do you want? You want them all to say sorry. Sorry. Is that it? Could we own that they do both? That actually, by reaching back and spanning forwards...
Starting point is 00:29:33 I was... In Eastern Europe and this top TV execs said, I love Britain. And I said, do you? Because I'm always a little bit ambivalent about my own countries. You know, I love it. No, I don't hate it. I love it. But there's room for improvement.
Starting point is 00:29:45 And he said, I love the way. You've got all this history. You've got this line, this constitution line. You can follow for thousands of years? So can we own that? Can we enjoy it? But can we also interrogate it? So Paula feels included.
Starting point is 00:29:56 You feel included. And the picture's celebrated. Fine. When do I ever hear Paula look back on the history of its country with anything but negativity? Oh, wow. Really? Tell me one great thing. Then we need to talk more.
Starting point is 00:30:07 When have you last? We need to talk. We need to talk more if that's what you think. You never stop trashing the history of his country. Let's just remind the viewers, I'm an immigrant. I was adopted by this country and I was very grateful to be adopted by this country. So why don't you bring it up? However, however.
Starting point is 00:30:26 Why do you want us constantly feeling guilty and apologising for it? I'll wait. I'll wait. We gave you a home. You just said. I'll wait. Thank you, Britain. I'll wait. When you're ready.
Starting point is 00:30:34 However, that doesn't mean that in terms of understanding my history and your history, which is forever entwined, that we shouldn't look at both sides of the story. And at the moment, we are only just opening that chapter in terms of our history. What do you want to achieve? And isn't that a good thing, is. No, it's not. What do you want to achieve? The fact that we know that Megan is 43% ancestry Nigerian.
Starting point is 00:30:59 That's a fantastic thing. I thought it was 47. 43. I thought she was 43. Thank you. Just clarify that. Isn't that a fantastic thing to discover? Didn't she go to Malta and claim she was Maltese a few years ago?
Starting point is 00:31:10 I don't know about that. She did her genealogy. It came out in her archetypes podcast last year. Maltese, Irish, Nigeria. There's a lot going on. What to unpack. I've got a bit of Eastern European. I'll be heading to Eastern Europe quite a safe,
Starting point is 00:31:22 claiming my ancestry there. And so you see I referenced the book that we are all a part of. And I'm just saying that this discussion about colonialism, one that King Charles seems to be ready. What do you want him to? seems to be ready to open up and discuss about. I want him to open up and discuss it. And say what?
Starting point is 00:31:39 I want him to be able to reference some of the issues that the Commonwealth countries who has been affected by colonialism and to this day continue. He is engaging more than... That's what I understand. That's fantastic. What's he wanted him to say and do?
Starting point is 00:31:56 That's going to make it... Paula, what's he going to say or do that changes a damn thing? Because what happens is we have a lot of people saying, well, I don't want to hear about this. I don't want to hear about this. I want to stop the conversation. What do you want him to say and do? I want him to open up the conversation.
Starting point is 00:32:09 And say what? Which is what he is doing. So he needs to open that conversation not only in this country, not only in this country, but also in the countries that have been impacted by colonialism. Sorry, I am asking. I'm sounding a bit robotic. Let's just start starting again.
Starting point is 00:32:26 What would you like him to say and do? I would like him. What's this conversation you want? I would like him actually, first of all, to listen. To what? To what? Listen to what is being said by the countries. What don't you think he knows about the history of his country?
Starting point is 00:32:41 I don't know. But if that's not what he did? You want a conversation, but you've no idea what it's going to be about? I don't know what he knows. Isn't that the point? But the whole point is he can't say what you really want him to say, which is sorry, because he's a head of state and he's a representative, and unless the government gifts him that power to say sorry,
Starting point is 00:32:59 he actually can't say it. Hence we have a constitutional monologue. Would stay there's all just measly, pointless words. No. To who? You make your money with measly pointless words. Sorry, explain to me. How is this going to change the lives of a single person today?
Starting point is 00:33:14 The king of this country saying that hundreds of years ago, something we knew existed in evil-called slavery was terrible. And by the way, not just here, all around the world. And there were black slave owners too, right? I don't see anyone demanding apologies from their ancestors, right? And everyone knows it's evil. evil. Everyone knows it was terrible. Everyone knows the British Empire was
Starting point is 00:33:35 also great in many ways to. Here's my point. How does it help anybody today? To have people groveling and apologising and saying, here's some money. What's he going to do with the people today? I don't think there are any dignitaries asking for groveling apologies. I don't think there are any people who are
Starting point is 00:33:53 still impacted who are still impacted today by the effects of colonialism. What do you want Charles to do, roveling a politics. I keep asking you. I've got to ask you. And you talk about history of 100 years, but you know that reparations are...
Starting point is 00:34:07 Paulette, you want King Charles to do and say something, but you've no idea what it is. I want him to have a cup of tea with Prince Harry. I want a conversation with him. What do you want? What do you want? What do you want? What do you want?
Starting point is 00:34:17 I'm going to want a cup of tea and Prince Harry. You literally can't answer me. You can have a truth and reconciliation. You could have a truth and reconciliation. I'll give you one more time. I'll give you one more chance. Do you know what a truth and reconciliation is? I do.
Starting point is 00:34:29 What do you want to just... Then let's hold a truth of reconciliation. What do you want him to say? Let's hold a truth and recognition. Let's start the process of listening. And from that listening process, then we will hear what he has to say. It could maybe apply to his own family as well. It could do.
Starting point is 00:34:46 It could do, with great respect, you've literally just spent 10 minutes saying absolutely nothing. I mean, I haven't. And then you suddenly remember truth and reconciliation is thought, that gets me off the wrap. I would have going to say what I actually want all in to do. 2015, we finished paying slave owners. We finished compensating slave owners in 2015, not hundreds of years ago. I'm uncomfortable about that.
Starting point is 00:35:08 Let's have this truth and reconciliation. Let's talk about cooperation. Let's talk about corporations. Because America's ahead of us on this, of course. A place like San Francisco, they want to give millions and millions of dollars to everybody who ever had an ancestor who was involved in slavery, which seems to me completely ridiculous. What's your view?
Starting point is 00:35:28 I was just sitting here thinking, why is the advice, let's just look forward, let's move forward when it's Harry and Megan, and we're talking about their past discretions. But when it's something like this, you know, like I understand. Bingo, yes. I understand what Pierce is saying. All look forward for Megan and Harry, leave all the nasty stuff behind us. But with the rest of them, back we go, as long as it takes to have a stick to beat them with. But it's not comparing like with like because one are an institution of state. And they represent Britain and our history for better or for worse.
Starting point is 00:36:02 And the other are a pair who tripped off into the sunset with a couple of tiaras and some titles. Why? I have always, always advocated. Why would King Charles saying, I'm really sorry, and here's some money, make any difference to people today? They had nothing to do with the slavery years
Starting point is 00:36:16 because they're not 300 years old. I've always advocated for reconciliation for Harry, for King Charles, and for William. Always advocated that in the same way that I advocate the right. reconciliation. You won't have a conversation, but you have no idea what it's going to be about, other than it's going to make a feel. Let's open the floor. It's apparently going to make it. It's going to parent. And I want a reconciliation conversation with the Vikings and with the Romans, right?
Starting point is 00:36:42 I want Nordic leaders. Did you finish paying compensation? I want Italian prime ministers to them in 2015. Recompensing me for the land. My ancestors lost in the north of England from the rampaging Romans. Did you finish paying compensation to them in 2015? Yes. What have I got a deal with it? I was a taxpayer. I know you'd think otherwise. You were a taxpayer. We were all taxpayers and we paid.
Starting point is 00:37:06 I had nothing to do with slavery, Paula. But yet you paid compensation to the slave owners. And by the way, nor did you. But I paid compensation to the slave owners. Okay. I'm going to run this with one. I didn't have a choice in that. I want to end on a happy note.
Starting point is 00:37:16 I've worked out why Charles is so red. Can we look at a picture again? He's an asshole fan. Right? Obviously, if we win on Sunday, and Manchester is a lot of, city lose. We've become Premier League champions first time in 20 years. It is a nod to Arsenal Football Club. God bless you, your majesty. Thank you. I've got to leave it there. Thank you Kinsey. And we do
Starting point is 00:37:39 wishing well. Thank you, Sarah. Thank you Paula. Thank you, Tessa.

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