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The Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Kate's reaction to a joke about Prince Harry's dramatic exit from the monarchy in 2020 by actress Margot Robbie has gone viral after resurfacing on TikTok.
Buckingham Palace announced that Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, were stepping down from their working roles within the royal family in January 2020, after months of reports detailing a breakdown in relations between the couple and William and Kate. Harry and Meghan left Britain to eventually settle in California with their young son, Prince Archie, where their daughter, Princess Lilibet, was later born in 2021.
Just a month after the announcement of the Sussex split from the royals, William and Kate attended the BAFTA Film Awards in London, where audiences waited to see if the topic would be addressed.
It was finally mentioned with a closing joke in Brad Pitt's acceptance speech after being awarded the Best Supporting Actor honor for his role as Cliff Booth in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
The star didn't collect the award in person, instead having co-star Margot Robbie read his acceptance speech for him.
In the clip uploaded to TikTok by user princessmiddleton_ on August 12, Robbie's reading of the speech's closing joke was paired with William and Kate's royal reaction, gaining over 700,000 views on the social media platform so far.
"He says that he's going to name this Harry," Robbie, who recently gained acclaim in the hit movie, Barbie, said while holding up the gold statue. "Because he's really excited about bringing it back to the States with him. His words, not mine!"
This reference to Harry's move abroad was received with a round of laughter from the crowd as the cameras covering the event cut to William (who is BAFTA's president) and Kate. The princess laughed as she turned to her husband who smiled while joining in the round of applause.
The clip has received over 69,000 likes and dozens of comments, some praising the royal couple for taking the joke in their stride.
"Good sports haha," wrote one TikTok user, with another person commenting: "Kate's enjoyment of that did not need to be faked."
Robbie's nod wasn't the only time that Harry was mentioned in BAFTA speeches or jokes. In 2022, host Rebel Wilson made a reference to the royal's bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, though this time William and Kate were not in attendance.
Introducing the Outstanding British Film category at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Wilson told viewers: "From drama to horror, to fantasy, Harry and Meghan's interview with Oprah had it all. Unfortunately, that's not nominated in this category, but some incredible films are."
The joke was received tentatively by the audience, though Wilson later revealed that she ran her jokes by an unnamed member of the royal family that she is friends with, saying: "They actually have a really great sense of humor. People think [not] because of their position but they like to laugh as well!"
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more