Prince Harry gave a speech to the United Nations general assembly in New York yesterday. He was a guest speaker at an event to mark Nelson Mandela International Day. In a 30-minute address, the Duke of Sussex spoke out against a “global assault on democracy and freedom”.
He talked about the “havoc” of climate change, the “horrific war” in Ukraine, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the dangers of misinformation. A reference to “the rolling back of constitutional rights here in the United States” was taken by many as a reference to the recent SCOTUS reversal on Roe v. Wade.
“How many of us feel battered, helpless, in the face of a seemingly endless stream of disasters and devastation?” asked Prince Harry. “This has been a painful year in a painful decade.”
Harry and his wife, Meghan, stepped down from Royal duties in early 2020 and are now based in California. They returned to the UK briefly earlier this summer, with their two children, to attend events taking place as part of Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum jubilee.
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Related: Meghan McCain fears for her life after GOP troll Kari Lake makes fun of her crappy book sales
The Prince told the audience the world was at a “pivotal moment”. With regards to climate change, he said “will only grow worse unless our leaders lead, unless the countries represented by the seats in this hallowed hall make the decisions — the daring, transformative decisions — that our world needs to save humanity.”
Speaking of Nelson Mandela, he said the late South African leader was, “not only a man of conscience, he was a man of action”.
One person distinctly unimpressed by the speech was former The View co-host Meghan McCain. She used her column in Britain’s Daily Mail to blast the “woke” Prince.
In a nutshell, McCain took affront to him moving to the US and talking of threats to democracy and thought him a hypocrite for addressing climate change.
McCain blasted Harry’s speech as “rambling, unfocused … confusing and wildly insulting to the undoubtedly few Americans, who may have been watching.”
She continued, “He has lived here all of 20 minutes, yet he has decided that makes him an expert.
“Being a Duke (or a Duchess for that matter) means next to nothing in America. It confers nothing other than superficial celebrity clout and social media clicks.”
“Just because one may disagree with the outcome of a Supreme Court ruling, does not make it a threat to democracy.”
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She goes on to say, “Harry and Meghan Markel [sic] chose to seek woke-asylum here in the United States because — as they infamously told the world — the Royal family was just too racist to endure.”
She reminds Harry, “This is not your home country. In fact, my country went to war against yours so that we’d never have to be subject to a royal lecture ever again.”
She goes on to call Harry a hypocrite for talking about climate change but traveling around the world on private jets. She says instead of using his speech to solely pay tribute to Mandela, “[Harry] must get in his virtue-signaling. He must let you know that he thinks America is a mess and that he is judging it from his lectern.
“I for one am sick of this and sick of him.”
She ends by suggesting, “If it is so terrible here and our Constitution is so terrible, feel free to leave. Canada might be a better fit.”
Online, McCain’s words have provoked a mixed response. Although some agreed with her vitriolic attack, others strongly disagreed.
Wait. You spent all last week being attacked because you were somebody’s daughter and now your attacking some guy who in the news because he has a famous family?
— Jodee Stock (@StockJodee) July 19, 2022
Is Meghan McCain trying to build a career by using Harry and Meghan’s names?
— Agathe de Lili-Brazen Hussy (@AgathedeLili) July 18, 2022
His wife is American, as are his children. Their family has chosen to live in this country. He has every right to speak about what he sees as wrong with this country.
— Lillian Lopeman (@llopeman) July 18, 2022
Harry has free speech, you don’t have to agree with him. You obviously don’t so don’t listen. He and wife seem to trigger you. Also if you took the word “woke” out of your rant, would you be able to write? It’s your crutch.
— Eileen gordon 🍀🐬🌻☮️🇺🇦 (@Eileeng27736970) July 18, 2022
A true patriot is not afraid to criticize their country.
— Tinoladobo (@Tinoladobo) July 18, 2022
#PrincessMeghan is trending and it’s *not* about you. pic.twitter.com/kQhZ4ewgJK
— صلح (@NessSagacious) July 18, 2022
Man, I wish you were more ‘woke’. Dumb, nasty column, as usual. And hey, no comment on Uvalde, Jan. 6 committee, SCOTUS, Ginnie Thomas, Ukraine, etc. etc. etc.? THIS is what you choose to write about?
— TB (@TRB4212) July 18, 2022
GlobeTrotter
Harry might mean well, but he doesn’t seem to realize that unlike in the UK, being a royal in the US confers no special privileges. That’s the difference between a monarchy and a republic. Being a prince or duke in the US doesn’t make you any more important, it doesn’t make you more knowledgeable and it doesn’t give you a podium to stand on.
The way we do things in a republic is to get yourself elected. That’s the only way to be legitimately empowered to speak on behalf of others.
jcool
what gave him a podium was an invitation from the united nations, not a title.
and you can speak your opinion without being an elected official. it’s called freedom of speech
still_onthemark
“The way we do things in a republic is to get yourself elected. That’s the only way to be legitimately empowered to speak on behalf of others.”
That sounds good but it’s never really been true. I was going to make a snarky comment about celebrity culture, but even in the 19th century there were American celebrity writers with tremendous political influence. Harriet Beecher Stowe was credited (by Lincoln) as “the little lady who started this war.” Thoreau gave political speeches; Frederick Douglass and Mark Twain wrote and talked about all kinds of political issues.
Now, the only American writer who everybody has heard of is probably Stephen King, and he’s super-political. The only British author who everybody has heard of is She Who Must Not Be Named, and look what a political circus all THAT is. And then there are the TV and film celebrities, and YouTube celebrities with political opinions (good or bad) who Queerty tells us about all the time.
GlobeTrotter
@jcool: “it’s called freedom of speech”
Yes, everyone has freedom of speech, but that doesn’t mean your speech is interesting or relevant.
@still_onthemark: “…but even in the 19th century there were American celebrity writers with tremendous political influence”
Which is why I qualified my opinion with the word “legitimately”. Everyone has the right to an opinion, but what legitimately confers the right to speak on behalf of others is winning an election.
jcool
the fact that you don’t find something is interesting or relevant doesn’t mean that it isn’t. i’m fine with what he said, and you and that mccain chick are entitled to your own opinions.
still_onthemark
Oh come on, in the US we have one political party that doesn’t even make an effort to “speak on behalf of others.” They speak on behalf of one former TV star and one current TV star (Carlson). Meghan McCain is a (former for now) TV star, Meghan the duchess is also a former TV star, and Harry will try to become more American by becoming a TV star, with the help of the TV star he lives next door to. (Constitutional monarchy is starting to become more & more appealing to me!)
shaunpaul1234
Yes, Harry, u go wth ur freedom of speech, u entitled brat!!
Spot, ON, Ms. McCain!! Sick of hearing from him and his hanging on wife!! I said whn they signed, Spotify and Netflix will regret signing thm!! THEY DO!! They have displayed talent in nothing, no area of any expertise!! Everything they do is so meghan is the center of attention!! I cld go on about their failed endeavors!! I got sick of the environmentalist hypocrites ages ago, of which they both r!!
JromeGervais09
You’re an unmitigated hypocrite and just plain stupid. Uneducated and BTW are you white too. Stupid, white Americans opening their mouth like you erased all question as to your ignorance. Go away and STFU.
Mr. Stadnick
She is a slag
Jim
OMG. Will Meghan just go away.
Grrrowler
Attention whores are gonna whore, and McCain is just upset that people aren’t considering her royalty. She feels that she should be getting all the special treatment and be asked to speak to the U.N., so she has to lash out and throw a little fit when it doesn’t happen. She IS the daughter of war hero and political Maverick John McCain™, you know.
Max
the only royalty she’s ever been is the kind that’s a pain in the butt.
Fahd
Pot calling the kettle black. I am sick of her.
MaineBuilt
Globetrotter-Where did you ever come up with the idea that only an elected official can say anything? According to your thinking someone such as Martin Luther King should have never given a public speech?
GlobeTrotter
I distinctly said only elected officials can LEGITIMATELY speak on behalf of others. And I know you’re not comparing a moral giant like Martin Luther King who came from nothing and gave his life so that we can all now enjoy the rights we have today, to a prince born to every privilege imaginable and whose own government was complicit with the oppression and imprisonment of the very man he now purports to praise before the UN.
Just.my.opinion
Does anyone in this entire world actually care what Meghan McCain thinks or says?
Mr-DJ
Someone please tell Miss “Nobody Herself”, if she is tired of reading about him – STOP READING ABOUT HIM…!!! In fact, talking more about him, as she is doing, only INCREASES the Conversation. I’m so tempted to ask yet again. “What the hell is wrong with people?” But then I recall the Party/Cult she belongs to…
butchqueen
Flush Meg like the turd she is.
Cam
McCain couldn’t even sell a thousand copies of her book. So if there is a person nobody wants to hear from it’s her.
Also, how coincidental that the McCain hates the same guy that right wing media hates because he married a Black woman.
Meghan is just p*ssed because her phony act of pretending to be “Moderate” was exposed.
radiooutmike
You know what?
I’ve never heard Harry say at every chance he gets that he is the son of Princess Di. Unlike Meghan McCain.
Phew! Showing my age here, I almost typed Lady Di.
Kangol2
Meghan McCain is jealous of the attention Prince Harry and his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, commands. As Cam noted, wannabe Princess McCain could barely sell her drecktastic book despite her daddy’s name, her The View notoriety, and her right-wing hubby’s supposedly legions of followers. Meanwhile the Duke and Duchess go on about their abusiness, relentlessly attacked by the British media and US right-wing newspapers and commentators, and don’t whinge or rant like McCain does. She’s really pathetic, and that’s being kind.
As to GlobeTrotter’s comments about who legitimately speaks for large groups of people he strangely left off his list union leaders, who speak for the people they bargain on behalf of (and today’s media usually ignores them completely). He also seems to have forgotten super-rich people and wealthy corporations. Both regularly purport to speak for large groups and are taken quite seriously by the media, politicians, other rich people, and other corporations, based on their financial power. Jamie Dimon should only be speaking for JPMorgan Chase, but he is constantly sounding off on various issues because he is a corporate leader, and rarely do I see anyone, in the media or Congress, pressing him on his views. This happens all the time. And outside the internal dynamics of the mega bank he runs, no one beyond stockholders elected Jamie Dimon to anything beyond the corporate boards he sits on.
mateo
Someone’s trying to get attention….
johncp56
Nasty female Bloated tick with a shot gun
twomen4u
The best thing that could happen to this country would be Megan McCain losing her voice and having to live in England.