Orlando Bloom Weighs In on Controversy Surrounding HBO Max's 'The Prince'
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Last week, HBO Max premiered a new animated comedy series entitled The Prince. The show satirizes the British royal family from the perspective of Prince George, the heir to the throne and Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge's eldest child. The show was created by Gary Janetti, who based the premise off of his successful Instagram meme page. There, Janetti often pokes fun at the royals, and developed a persona for his version of Prince George—a sassy, effete royal commentator.
With the series' debut came both praise and an onslaught of criticism surrounding the show's satire. The Prince mocks every member of the royal family, and much of the controversy surrounds the parody of children. Below, we break down the drama behind the television show, along with the comments from the team behind The Prince.
The show was criticized for satirizing Prince George and the royal children.
On social media, some royal watchers and commentators critiqued the show for its portrayal of Prince George. The 8-year-old is depicted as entitled and conniving, and often plots against his two siblings, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. Some individuals believe that children, even those in the public eye, should not be parodied.
“Bottom line, children are off limits,” women's rights activist and author Dr. Shola Mos-Shogbamimu said on Good Morning Britain, via Forbes. “Creating a parody to poke fun at an 8-year-old is not funny. It’s uncalled for, and it goes against our collective sense of responsibility.”
A few other Tweets on the same issue are collected here, by royal reporter Omid Scobie.
Royals have been parodied on dozens of shows over the years (Spitting Image, The Windsors, SNL etc) but this is the first time I can recall children being targeted. It may be “comedy” but it comes across as creepy and borderline-bullying. Seems like many of you feel the same… pic.twitter.com/1nKTrSFGsd
— Omid Scobie (@scobie) July 28, 2021
Orlando Bloom defended the series.
Bloom is both friendly with Prince Harry in real life and voices the Duke of Sussex on The Prince. In an August 2020 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he defended the series and denied any malice.
"It’s not malicious or intended to be. He’s really got his finger on the pulse, Gary. He’s so smart and so zeitgeisty," Bloom said. "I rolled the dice on it, but I’m going to have to mention it to Prince Harry when I next see him, because I’m not going to be able to not. Oddly, I’m sure I’m going to see him at some point, just because of the nature of the universe, it always throws people together."
Bloom admitted that while he was hesitant to take the role at first, due to his British roots, his wife, Katy Perry, encouraged him to participate.
"Initially, I was like, 'Hmm, how do I feel about this,' because I’m a British boy who’s very proud of my roots. I understand how the royal family is loved by some and loathed by others, and I’ve always understood it as part of my heritage and background. I’m not someone who wants to poke fun at anyone normally, but this was so clever, witty and affectionately done," Bloom said. "Actually Katy saw one bit of it and was like, 'You’ve got to do this. This is genius.' And the animation is done by some of the guys who did Family Guy, so it’s going to be very amusing. And who doesn’t love the royal family?"
Sophie Turner is wrapped up in the controversy.
The Game of Thrones star voices Princess Charlotte, Prince George's younger sister, on the new series. Turner spoke out in May about the paparazzi attention on her daughter with husband Joe Jonas.
"She did not ask for this life ... it's disgusting," Turner said at the time. "I’m sickened, I’m disgusted and I’m respectfully asking everyone to stop following us around."
Now, some viewers are calling Turner a hypocrite for voicing the 6-year-old princess on the show, given her previous comments about her daughter's privacy.
Creator Gary Janetti stands by his show.
The Prince's creator encouraged viewers to embrace the series as satire and just in good fun. Janetti also voices Prince George on the show.
"Everything is meant with affection," Janetti has said, noting his aim was to create a story that was "super funny."
Janetti is used to working on satire—he previously wrote for the hit animated series, Family Guy. The creator continues to actively post about The Prince on his social media, promoting the series.
The royal family has yet to comment on the series.
No one representing the Queen, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, nor the Duke and Duchess of Sussex has spoken out about the show.
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