George - The Second
How a cartoon could change history but probably not.
The Experiment makes no assertions either way about what Jack Hughes claims in his latest essay, namely that our subscribers include members of the British Royal Family. We can neither confirm nor deny that those close to the Crown have been reading this newsletter for years and make no assurances that anything Jack writes has the slightest merit.
by Jack Hughes
Because The Experiment’s subscription list is confidential, none of its contributors are told who’s signed up to receive weekly e-mails from New York Times bestselling author Jason Stanford. As such, we can’t say for certain whether the British Royal Family reads it – but there is mounting evidence Queen Elizabeth II has at least seen the recent one in which we urged her to pass the Crown her great-grandson George.
Since its publication, Her Majesty and those closest to her have made several moves the likes of which we don’t often see a Queen make beyond a chessboard. The first was confirmation via a Royal biographer that Prince William has told George that he will become King. We don’t know what was said exactly, but odds are it went better than usual father-son chats when boys are nudged to more realistic career goals.
The second move involved two of Queen Elizabeth’s sons Prince Charles and Prince Edward. According to British media reports, Prince Charles has apparently reneged on a longstanding understanding his brother Edward would inherit their father’s title as Duke of Edinburgh after his death. And yet, after Prince Philip died, the Dukedom automatically passed on to Charles who is now said to be “assessing his own future.”
While some have speculated that this may be part of some grand scheme by Charles to reduce the size and cost of the monarchy – and other less charitable critics have decried it as an audacious act of piracy by ‘His Royal Hoarder’ – there’s another possibility: Charles might be breaking the decades-old promise to Edward because Charles intends to use the title himself if he’s been skipped in the line of succession.
If so, there’d be a precedent. When the Queen’s uncle King Edward VIII abdicated in 1936, the title he used from that day forward was Duke of Windsor. Given that title is now tainted by wartime Nazi collaboration, it’s unlikely that Charles would want to revive it. Absent the Duke of Edinburgh title, then, what would Charles be called? He can’t stay Prince of Wales; it’s reserved for the heir apparent to the throne.
And that will soon be George. Even though George just turned 8, he can do simple math. If William told him he was third in line for the throne and you take away the first, Grandpa, you’re left with second in line – it’s basic succession subtraction. (We now know the Royal family calls Charles ‘Grandpa’ after the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate, was caught on camera calling him it at the most recent G7 Leader’s Summit.)
In addition to being promoted George is also being ‘promoted.’ He was the star of the Euro 2021 football matches where his reactions to the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat were covered by sports, lifestyle, and mainstream media around the world. Then, for his birthday, George’s mother Kate sent out the official picture of the boy who will be King as part of a strategy of balancing privacy and press interest.
Again, all of the above has happened since The Experiment’s original feature story in which we identified George as the only Royal who could outshine and outlast his uncle Prince Harry. Our theory was further bolstered when one of Harry’s friends revealed Harry is afraid of George. More specifically, he’s said to be afraid that he’ll be irrelevant once people are more interested in, and want to hear more from, George.
Harry worries he’ll become ‘just an uncle’ – a rare Royal phobia he’s given to calling his “Prince Andrew complex.” Given ‘Randy Andy’ is the absolute worst, you can get why Harry wouldn’t want to follow in his missteps. (Harry might want to take greater care in the company he keeps, though, as it’s been reported the only Royals taking his side are Andrew’s daughter Eugenie and ex-wife Sarah ‘Fergie’ Ferguson.)
Harry’s friend offers a compelling insight into why the prince is pushing out so much content – Oprah, Netflix production deals, books – he’s in a race against time. Every day George grows older and grows into a bigger threat. (Harry’s publicist was quick to dismiss claims his tell-all book about the Royal Family won’t come out until after the Queen’s death – by then it’d be too late, George will be headed to his Coronation.)
If Harry’s trying to show the monarchy is an antiquated institution mired in the past with no future, it makes sense that he’s fixated on George – who is living proof the British Crown is secure until the 22nd century. (If young George lives as long as his grandmother has he could still be King in the year 2108.) For that reason, George is (re)public enemy number one – and not just for Harry but all other anti-monarchists.
And this brings us to the final development, the premiere of the new HBO cartoon satire The Prince. Critics have widely condemned the show, not for how it has parodied the Queen or dances on the grave of the recently deceased Prince Philip, but for its vicious portrayal of Prince George. George is the central character on the show and is written up as snarky, conniving, and an entitled Royal pain-in-the-arse.
Most have noted the similarities between The Prince’s George and another animated tyrant toddler – Stewie Griffin from the Fox Network show Family Guy. It makes sense because the creator of The Prince is a former writer/producer from Family Guy, Gary Janetti. (Janetti is credited as a co-producer on a 2012 Family Guy episode in which Prince William and Kate are prophetically changing Stewie Griffin’s diapers.)
One critic was so outraged by the harsh treatment of young George that he called on Harry and Meghan to denounce the show as bullying and potentially harmful to their nephew’s mental health. The critic, Dan Wootton, noted that Harry might have some sway in this area as some of his new Hollywood friends are involved in the series – his friend and real-life neighbor Orlando Bloom voices the Prince Harry character.
Of course, it’s not in Harry’s interest to ask them to let up on George – his only real regal rival. If the future king is knocked down a peg, so be it, it’ll make it easier for the Sussexes to succeed. (Harry and Meghan feel their kids have been mistreated by the Royal family, so they may see turnabout as fair play.) But Harry would be wise to remember Ralph Waldo Emerson: “When you strike at a king, you must kill him.”
King George VII may be on the throne for years, and much sooner than Harry thinks.
Jack Hughes is a communications consultant based in Canada. His previous contributions to The Experiment include “Same of Thrones,” “Tippecanoe and Agnew Anew,” “Harris / Shuri 2020,” “Bidenfeld,” “Firth and Firthiness,” “The Ballot of Bill McKay,” and “The World Wants ‘The West Wing,’” among others. His inexplicably extensive writings on Dan Quayle are “The Unusual Suspect,” “The Unusual Suspect II,” “The GOPfather,” “Porqua, CoQau?” and “Quayle’s Hunting Season.” Connect with him on LinkedIn here.
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