A 2018 video of British TV host John Oliver warning Meghan Markle not to marry into the ‘fundamentally flawed’ royal family has gone viral in the wake of the Sussexes’ explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey – in which the Duchess echoed many of the sentiments shared by Oliver.
The clip, which is taken from an appearance that Oliver made on fellow late night host Stephen Colbert’s show, shows the US-based Brit sharing his thoughts on the royal wedding, three months before it was due to take place.
When asked whether he was excited to watch the event, and to see Meghan, 39, and Harry, 36, making their union official, Oliver issued a warning to the future Duchess of Sussex to be wary of what royal life would really be like.
Viral: A resurfaced 2018 video of British comedian John Oliver warning Meghan Markle not to marry into the ’emotionally stunted’ royal family has caused a frenzy online this week
New perspective: Although the comments were made in February 2018, they have now gone viral in the wake of Meghan and Harry’s explosive sit-down with Oprah, which aired on Sunday
‘I would not blame her if she pulled out of this at the last minute,’ Oliver, who was born in the UK but has been living in the US for 15 years, said.
‘I don’t think you need to have just seen the pilot episode of The Crown to get a basic sense of… she might be marrying into a family that could cause her some emotional complications.’
Colbert attempted to defend the royal family, particularly Prince Harry’s generation, insisting that they ‘seem like nice people’, and nothing like the dramatized characters seen in Netflix series The Crown.
Concern: During an appearance on Stephen Colbert’s late night show, Oliver, 43, warned that it was ‘going to be weird’ for Meghan to adjust to royal life while labeling the monarchy as ‘fundamentally flawed’
‘But this generation seems like nice people right? They’re all nice now, right?’ he questioned Oliver, who refused to be swayed on his unflattering opinion of the Monarchy as a whole.
‘Yeah… I mean, they’re an emotionally stunted group of fundamentally flawed people doing a very silly pseudo-job. That’s what she’s marrying into,’ he warned.
Oliver, 43, then raised concerns about Meghan’s ability to adjust to royal life, warning that ‘it’s going to be weird for her’.
‘I hope she likes it. It’s going to be weird for her. I would not marry into the royal family,’ he said, before joking: ‘I’m a commoner, I would not be welcome, especially after what I just said.’
Although made in 2018 before Meghan and Harry tied the knot, Oliver’s comments have now gone viral – with many noting that they are eerily reminiscent of remarks that were made by the Duchess herself during her sit-down with Oprah.
During the interview, Meghan tearfully revealed that the stress of royal life made her suicidal when she was five months pregnant, telling Oprah that she ‘couldn’t be left alone’ and had told Harry that she ‘didn’t want to be alive anymore’.
![Prediction? Many viewers are focusing on Oliver's claim that the royals 'cause [Meghan] some emotional complications', noting that it very closely echoes the Duchess' own claims](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/03/10/13/40295966-9346513-image-a-11_1615383801375.jpg)
Prediction? Many viewers are focusing on Oliver’s claim that the royals ’cause [Meghan] some emotional complications’, noting that it very closely echoes the Duchess’ own claims
She then claimed that the Buckingham Palace HR department ignored her plea for help because she wasn’t a ‘paid employee’.
Describing how she considered ending her life believing it ‘was better for everyone’, Meghan said: ‘I knew that if I didn’t say it, that I would do it. I just didn’t want to be alive anymore. And that was a very clear and real and frightening constant thought.
‘I remember how [Harry] just cradled me. I said that I needed to go somewhere to get help. I said that, “I’ve never felt this way before, and I need to go somewhere.” And I was told that I couldn’t, that it wouldn’t be good for the institution.’
Many have now drawn comparisons between those comments, and the warnings issued by Oliver back in February 2018.
‘Damn, he really hit the nail on the head regarding Meghan Markle’s future in the [royal family],’ on person said of the video this week, while another added: ‘He predicted exactly how it will be for Megan.’
Many called out Oliver’s claim that the royal family would ’cause Meghan emotional complications’ in particular, with one writing: ‘It’s 2021 after the Oprah interview and boy did that comment about emotional damage age far too well.’
The viral reaction to the video comes after several late night hosts in the US skewered the royal family over the extraordinary and very damaging allegations made by Meghan and Harry during their sit-down with Oprah.
Chief among the Meghan and Harry’s incendiary claims was that a member of the royal family had raised ‘concerns’ about how dark their unborn son’s skin color would be.
Oprah’s jaw appeared to hit the floor when Meghan dropped that bombshell, as she replied: ‘What?’
Colbert himself seized on the controversy, asking if the monarchy’s ‘medieval selective-breeding program might be racist’ and made gags about Prince Andrew’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
‘I’m gonna go on a limb here and say there’s a possibility, just a possibility mind you, that this medieval, selective breeding program might be racist?’ he said during his show on Monday night.
‘Also, it’s never good when the British ruling class thinks someone is too dark. They steal their land and make them play cricket.’
He also put his own comedic stamp on Meghan’s claim that she had never looked Harry up online and had carried out no research into what royal life might be like.
Criticism: Oliver said of the royal family (seen in July 2018) that they are ‘an emotionally stunted group of fundamentally flawed people doing a very silly pseudo-job’
Colbert said: ‘What? Let me introduce you to this thing called Google. Over there, I think it’s called Lorry. It’s full of useful information. For instance, it says your husband knew Princess Di.
‘That might have been an indication that this was gonna be a rough gig. Also, while you’re Googling, you might want to try the combo “Andrew,” “Island” and “Epstein.” It’ll give you an idea about what the royal family is OK with.’
Meanwhile Jimmy Kimmel laid into the ‘inbreeding’ royals and aired an edited clip of an ‘old lady’ firing a dart into Meghan’s neck at the crucial moment when Oprah asked her who had allegedly made the skin color comment.
Kimmel said: ‘No one delivers a “what?” like Oprah, huh? Who can blame her, imagine after centuries of inbreeding all of a sudden these people are concerned about the color of a baby’s skin.
‘Prince Charles has the ears of a basset hound and they’re worried about the skin… and by the way they should hope that the kid looks more like Meghan than Harry.
‘No offense but I mean Harry kind of looks like the guy who played screech may he rest in peace.’
Kimmel also joked that having watched the way in which Meghan dodged Oprah’s question about who made the remark about Archie’s skin color, it made him believe that she had indeed been ‘silenced.’
He included an edited version of the interview when Oprah asked: ‘And you’re not going to tell me who had the conversation?’
Changing view: Although Colbert tried to defend the royals to Oliver in 2018, on Monday night he skewered the Monarchy over the allegations that were made by Meghan and Harry
The shot then cut to Meghan and an actress dressed like an elderly regal woman appeared in the background with a blowpipe up to her mouth.
She then fired a dart which knocked Meghan out.
The woman, perhaps dressed like the Queen or the Duchess of Cornwall, is then seen putting a finger over her lips to signal that she wants silence.
The footage then cuts to Harry saying: ‘That was awkward, I was bit shocked.’
And Kimmel reappears to say: ‘Well maybe it was that old lady right there!’
Prince Harry’s close friend James Corden – who was a guest at the royal wedding and stole a march on his CBS colleague Oprah by airing his own controversy-free interview with the Duke days before the couple’s bombshell sit-down was broadcast – avoided controversy in his take, and instead made a gag about Meghan’s revelation that she and Harry were actually married three days before their star-studded televised wedding.
‘So the ceremony I went to was a sham?’ Corden asked. ‘Can you imagine if they were like, “Does anyone here object to this union?” And I was like, “Me! I do!” And then it’s like, “Too bad they’re already married. We’re really just doing this for show.”‘
He also joked that he wanted his wedding present back from the couple, a toaster.
‘That was a wedding present, not a three-days-after-the-wedding present,’ he said. ‘I didn’t actually I got them a Nespresso, and then I turned up and saw that Clooney was there and I thought “Ah no,” that’s a double Nespresso.’