The joke lands at home

Saturday Night Live UK built a sketch around Harry and Meghan's return to Britain, played by comedians Jack Shep and Ayoade Bamgboye.

A visit to Balmoral

The sketch drops the Sussexes at Balmoral, where Larry Dean plays King Charles and Emma Sidi plays Queen Camilla.

This castle is for Royals

Charles greets his son by telling him he does not belong there. Camilla scolds the King for being a grump.

“Harry, what are you doing here? This castle is for Royals only”

The Oprah callback

Camilla welcomes Meghan with a line written to sting, referencing the skin colour claims the couple aired in their Oprah interview.

“And beautiful Meghan, as brown as ever”

Ice she made herself

Meghan hands Camilla a gift of ice she says she made herself, addressing her as step-queen. It is a jab at the lifestyle brand image.

A whizz in the kitchen

Harry praises his wife's cooking skills, then undercuts it by saying she hires the best cooks.

We need your help

Charles asks what the pair actually want. Meghan says they are moving back to the UK and need his help.

“What do you two want?”

That Netflix money

The King's response is the line everyone quoted: a dig at the couple's streaming deal and their spending.

“Don't tell me you've spent all your Netflix money already”

Just a duchy or two

Harry complains that sixty million dollars could only stretch so far, then asks for land instead.

“Daddy, it was $60million. How long was it meant to last? I'm not asking for much, just a duchy or two”

What a waste

Charles tells his son what a waste he has become, delivering the sketch's harshest verdict on the Sussex project.

The slip about Philip

The King sighs that Harry's father is not around to see this. Charles and Camilla panic at the slip while Harry looks lost.

“You're lucky your father isn't around to see this”

Not a regular guy

Harry's whine sets up the sketch's real target: wanting out of the institution without giving up the status.

“just because I don't want to be a Royal, it doesn't mean I want to be a regular guy”

Enter the new PM

George Fouracres arrives as Prime Minister Andy Burnham, the show's stand-in for a regular guy. He played Keir Starmer in the last series.

“I'm the new PM and I'm nothing like the last one”

The Burnham promise

Burnham offers the Sussexes reassurance that normal life need not be miserable, branding it as a personal pledge.

“just because you're normal folk, doesn't mean your life has to be c***”

More than London

The Burnham bit runs on northern boosterism, with Manchester, Liverpool and a constituency he cannot name. Harry has to supply Makerfield.

“There's that town I'm MP of now. It's all a bit of a rush, I didn't catch the name”

A No10 on every street

More gags land on No10 North in Manchester and Burnham's hunger for approval, ending with a round of pints for everyone.

“Because I want you to like me. I need you to like me”

Viewers pile on

On X, people called it a public execution in prime time and noted the couple left Britain for privacy only to find the jokes waiting.

“This is public execution in prime time”

The real row underneath

The sketch aired as the Sussexes fought the King's letter of guidance, which confirmed they are not working royals and cannot use HRH titles.

Private citizens or public figures

Sources close to the couple call the private citizen label unrealistic given their fame, and want them treated as public figures instead.

“The idea that they can live a normal, 'private' life is sadly not realistic”

A diary that looks royal

Harry has Invictus Spirit Awards on 17 September, WellChild on 21 September and the Clinton Global Initiative on 22 and 23 September in New York.