King Charles III was seen laughing at a joke about Donald Trump’s stance on illegal immigrants in the U.S. at the Royal Variety Performance on Friday night, Nov. 22, and his action can be seen as concerning, given his son Prince Harry is facing deportation threats under Trump’s presidency.
The sovereign attended the event solo as his wife, Queen Camilla, was advised to rest following a chest infection. Buckingham Palace announced that she “continues to experience some lingering post-viral symptoms, as a result of which doctors have advised that, after a busy week of engagements, Her Majesty should prioritize sufficient rest.”
Despite this, Charles was seen in high spirits as he chatted to the performers and was even caught laughing from the royal box during a performance from political satirist Matt Forde, who’s known for his impressions. During his skit, the comedian did his best Trump impersonation as he mocked the president elect’s unfounded claims about immigrants eating locals’ pets in Springfield, Ohio.
Forde said in his Trump voice: “They’re eating the cats, they’re eating the dogs!” He then turned to address Charles and continued: “Your Majesty King Charles, you’re named after a spaniel – be very careful, they’ll eat you alive.” The camera panned to Charles, who was seen laughing enthusiastically at the joke. The comedian later took to X to react to a report about Charles having “fits of giggles” over his skit and wrote: “I did the Royal Variety last night and I regret to inform you that I may have committed treason.”
The pair reportedly met backstage after the show and Forde said of his encounter with Charles: “I thought it would be a waste to impersonate world leaders and not make the use of the head of state. But then I didn’t want it to be nasty – Trump obviously allows you to say silly things and get things wrong so that felt like the best way to do it.”
He shared that from where he stood on the stage during his performance, he couldn’t see Charles’ response. But he got the chance to ask him later about his joke and told him: “I hope I haven’t committed treason.” Forde shared: “It turns out I haven’t, I don’t think. But he said he waited 300 years for that joke to be told. So there you go, I was the one that got to tell it.”
Trump made the unfounded claims during his presidential debate against Democrat candidate Kamala Harris earlier this year while driving a screed about presumably undocumented immigrants entering the country. He has since promised to do a mass deportation of these migrants in his first term as U.S. president in January 2025, which has reportedly left the Duke of Sussex worried, given the questions raised about his U.S. visa application.
Charles may be laughing now at Forde’s joke, but he won’t be when his son finds himself without a place to call home. Harry no longer has a safe place where he and his family can stay in the U.K., as Charles had evicted him and Meghan Markle from their only home at Frogmore Cottage. There’s also the matter of the family’s police protection in the country, which is still in legal dispute with the Home Office. Harry has been living a happy and fruitful life in Santa Barbara, California since 2020, and only time will tell how long he’ll be on American soil, as Trump had promised he would “take appropriate action” if found that the duke lied in his application about his past drug use.