The Sussexes have entered their roast era: How Harry and Meghan became the joke.

A few weeks ago, an American journalist named Luke Winkie walked into a Barnes and Noble. 

When he entered the bookstore, he was confronted by a 'horrific sight'. He took a photo and posted it on Twitter. It quickly went viral. 

The 'horrific sight' was 23 copies of Prince Harry's memoir Spare lined up on a display unit. Twenty-three Prince Harrys staring deep into your soul, desperate to tell you about his childhood trauma and also his frostbitten penis. 

Absolutely horrific sight at the Barnes & Noble pic.twitter.com/2hkUX4GCIc

— Luke Winkie (@luke_winkie) February 23, 2023

When I saw the tweet, I instinctively thought about how it would make for a funny meme, like 'When they say they're an equal opportunity employer' or 'When all your sleep paralysis demons turn up at the same time'. 

It was ripe for humour and there was something so satisfying about finding the punchline in what was once a very serious topic.  

That's when I realised Harry and Meghan had entered their roast era. 

They were now firmly the butt of the joke.

Two years ago, when the Hollywood celebrity couple formerly known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex first started to share their 'truth', we leaned in. 

First came the sit-down tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey. It was packed with brilliant little bits of gossip about the royal family and what it's really like behind the scenes of 'the firm'. We found out that someone in the royal family had been concerned about how dark Archie's skin would be. We discovered others in the royal family were jealous of the attention Meghan and Harry were receiving from the media. And that Prince Harry and Prince William weren't talking to each other. 

When Oprah leaned in, we leaned in. When Oprah gasped, we gasped. 

We picked over every little morsel of gossip and were hungry for more. We were gleeful. This interview confirmed for us - once and for all - that the world's most 'perfect' family wasn't so perfect after all. In fact, it's quite f**ked up. 

And it's very rare that you actually get a glimpse behind an impeccably curated facade like the one the royal family presents to the world. 

It reminded me of a story from my own family. 

Every year when I was growing up, my mum would receive a Christmas card from an old friend. Let's call her Pam. Pam would include a five-page, typed up letter recapping the year in the life of her wonderful husband Peter and two brilliant children, Polly and Patrick. And every year, the card would make my mum feel sh*t about her own life with her less wonderful husband and not so brilliant children. 

And then one Christmas, when I was in my 20s, we finally found out the truth. 

That year's letter was shorter and basically said: "Peter and I have divorced. I've been unhappy for 15 years." 

Now, I'd like to tell you that my mum and I immediately reacted to this letter with kindness. But I can't tell you that because what we actually did was burst into gleeful laughter. And reread the letter over and over again. We were in shock. In the best possible way. 

Later, the empathy came when we thought about how hard Pam had peddled for years to pretend that her marriage was perfect. And how much pressure there must have been on the brilliant kids to remain brilliant. 

Now, over a decade later, Pam and Peter are a funny little anecdote that we occasionally bring up in conversation. A reminder that perhaps the people who are putting the most effort into projecting the perfect image, might just be the most miserable of all. 

After the Oprah interview, the world was hungry for more of Harry and Meghan's 'truth'. And they delivered it. In spades. 

First came their six-part Netflix documentary, Harry & Meghan. Meghan made a joke about curtsying to the Queen and Harry looked horrified. Harry confirmed that his relationship with his brother and father had completely broken down. They spoke about what was really going on behind the scenes during the most public moments of their lives. They talked openly about pregnancy loss, and racism, and having suicidal thoughts. They did this all while being charming and funny. 

This is when the empathy came. This is the moment we realised how hard they had been peddling to continue the royal family's legacy of pretending everything was perfect. 

We were firmly in camp Harry and Meghan. We were happy for them. That they had escaped. And gotten that sweet Netflix deal. 

Then came Harry's memoir Spare. This is when the tide began to turn on the couple. In the weeks following its release, we learnt so much about the most intimate parts of Harry's life. Most of it against our will. Like that he lost his virginity to an older woman in a field behind a pub who 'rode him like a horse' and that he once had a frostbitten penis. 

Prince Harry's fatal flaw was giving us too much of a glimpse behind the facade. And this soon turned the empathy into ridicule. Late night show opening monologues were peppered with jokes about Harold and Willy and Harold's frostbitten willy.

We wondered aloud through memes and funny recaps how we know so much about Harry's private parts when he keeps telling us that all he wants is... privacy. 

Then came a South Park episode titled 'The Worldwide Privacy Tour'. You know things have taken a turn when South Park makes an entire episode about you. 

And finally, Chris Rock dedicated several minutes of his live Netflix special to joking about Meghan Markle's experience with racism. The one thing we thought was untouchable. 

So it seems Harry and Meghan's journey through the shock, to empathy, to comedy pipeline is complete. 

And somewhere along the line we've forgotten the traumatised little boy who lost his mum and just wanted to tell his story. And his glamorous Hollywood wife who had no idea what she had signed up for. 

Maybe, in a decade, all we will really remember from this Worldwide Privacy Tour is Harry's frostbitten penis. And all the jokes we made about it. 

Feature Image: Getty/Twitter.