Prince Philip
Controversial mourning caricature of Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan
© PA Images / imago images
The world mourns Prince Philip. The French satirical newspaper “Charlie Hebdo” is also addressing the issue – with a questionable drawing of Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan.
Is that still satire or just tasteless? This question arises in view of a cartoon that “Charlie Hebdo” published on Twitter on the occasion of the death of Prince Philip (99). To see: Prince Harry (36) who raised his right arm in a Nazi uniform in the Hitler salute and Duchess Meghan (39) who, as a kind of Josephine Baker († 69), bare-breasted and with a belt made of bananas around his stomach, did a dance performs. A coffin can be seen under the couple. “A tribute from Harry and Meghan to Prince Philip,” it is written.
Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan: what’s the deal with the drawing?
With the caricature, “Charlie Hebdo” refers to several aspects. On the one hand, Prince Harry was photographed with a swastika armband at a costume party in 2005, causing a huge scandal. The result: he publicly apologized for “the bad choice” of his costume.
On the other hand, Prince Philip, who fought against Germany in World War II, is repeatedly associated with brown ideas. Reason: His four older sisters were married to German aristocrats – some of whom supported the Nazis. Sophie, Margarita and Theodora (Cecilia died in a plane crash in 1937) were therefore not allowed to come to the wedding of Prince Philip and then Princess Elizabeth in London in 1947.
Finally, “Charlie Hebdo” is likely to allude to the accusations of racism that Meghan raised against the Royal Family and the British press in an Oprah interview in March 2021.
Caricature on the death of Prince Philip provokes divided echo
“If you are so reluctant that you have to use racism to make jokes, then you are a failed project,” said one Twitter user. Another said: “To my British friends: Charlie Hebdo’s financial situation is not so good. One can expect with hope that they will soon go bankrupt,” wrote another. A third said: “It’s disgusting and racist”. However, there are also dissenting votes. “I’m British and I believe in freedom of expression, so you should be able to post what you want”, “Masterfully!” and “I am British and I am not offended,” others say.
This drawing about the royals also shocked
It was not until the beginning of March 2021 that “Charlie Hebdo” made headlines with a drawing by Duchess Meghan. You can see a diabolically grinning Queen Elizabeth (94) whose left knee is pressed on the neck of the duchess lying on the floor. Next to it the sentence: “Why Meghan left Buckingham Palace.” The answer is in a speech bubble next to the caricature: “Because I can no longer breathe.” The drawn picture draws a parallel between the violent death of George Floyd († 46) and the Oprah interview with Duchess Meghan.
This article originally appeared on GALA.de.
Source used: twitter.com