Should we expect Prince Harry and Meghan Markel jokes at the Oscars?

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex may make an appearance at Sunday’s Oscars awards show, but not in the way they may be hoping. Since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were made fun of in a recent episode of ‘South Park’, the couple is now fair game when it comes to jokes.

Public relations expert Matt Yanofsky believes that the couple will be a big part of Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue, or that of presenters, throughout Sunday’s award show, and while the couple will not be in attendance physically, their presence may be felt.

The couple is becoming fair game for mocking

“Meghan and Harry are no longer untouchable in the US,” Yanofsky said in an interview with The Mirror. Yanofsky runs the marketing and publicity agency The Moment Lab.

“‘South Park’ is a show that is grandfathered into pop culture. Nobody is canceling it, and it has a history of saying what everyone thinks but is scared to say,” Yanovsky continued, speaking about the satirical elements found throughout each of the 26 seasons of the Comedy Central show, which regularly pokes fun at celebrities, politicians and real-life events.

“By satirizing the couple, they’ve given other people permission to finally say what they think about Meghan and Harry, as we saw similarly with Chris Rock’s stand-up special.”

In Rock’s stand-up special, the comedian mocked Markle’s comments that the royal family was being racist towards her, saying that she was facing regular in-law issues and that she should have known the family were, as Rock says, “the OGs of racism.”

“Sometimes it’s just some in-law s—,” the comedian said in the Netflix special. “Because she’s complaining, I’m like, ‘What the f--- is she talking about? ‘They’re so racist, they wanted to know how brown the baby was going to be...’ I’m like, ‘That’s not racist,’ cause’ even Black people want to know how brown the baby gon’ be. S---. We check behind them ears,” he joked.

“It’s 50/50 if they joke about the couple on Sunday or if they start mocking Meghan and Harry in five years,” Yanofsky added.

Has the Sussex’s popularity plummeted?

Since the recent ‘South Park’ episode aired, the couple’s popularity amongst Americans rating has fallen, according to a poll by Redfield & Wilton for Newsweek.

Prince Harry is reported as being liked by 32 percent of people and disliked by 42 percent, giving him a net rating of -10. Meanwhile, Markle was liked by 27 percent of Americans and disliked by 44 percent, giving her a net rating of -17.

The couple’s approval rating, according to the Newsweek polls which have been tracked since December, has dropped significantly.

In December, Harry had a net approval rating of +38, while Markle had +23.