YMMV / The Prince (2021)

• Audience-Alienating Premise: The idea of a show that essentially mocks three very real children and portrays an eight year old as a crass, shallow, adult-voiced Stewie Griffin clone really didn't sit well with some people. Unsurprisingly, it was canceled after 1 season. Many critics such as Cynical Reviews even noted that the show might've done better if the royal family depicted were fictional, especially given how the British Royal Family depicted in the show already bears almost no resemblance to their real life counterparts.
• Crowning Moment of Heartwarming: Even people who otherwise hate the show will often admit that the bedtime story in episode 9 is a genuinely sweet scene.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Owen is generally considered the best part even by people who dislike the show.
• Harsher in Hindsight: Prince Philip's depiction as a decrepit old zombie who constantly has to be defibrillated and "recharged" became this when the real Philip passed away at the age of 99 in April 2021, which actually delayed the show's premiere and makes this a case where it isn't even hindsight... the show was dated before it was even released. Even assuming that the viewer has no sympathy or affection for Philip at all, constant old-age jokes fall flat when they are being made about someone who's already dead and buried.
• It's Short, So It Sucks!: Each episode is only around 11 minutes, very few of them actually connected to the stated plot.
• Overshadowed by Controversy: The show's negative portrayal of the Royal family, especially with Prince George and Queen Elizabeth II, is probably more known than what goes on in the series itself. Many people found it inappropriate to portray a real life young child and an elderly ruler as self-absorbed jerkasses, so when the trailers for the show were released, the show started gaining criticism, to the point where the criticism had even received news coverage for its portrayals of such members, with some people considering it insulting or bullying. Aside from the representations, the show is also known for its premiere's delay due to Prince Philip's death on April 2021 at the age of 99, which occurred just as the show was about to broadcast.
• Rooting for the Empire: YouTube critic Cynical Reviews considered Kevin the most interesting character in the show, and when mentioning the cliffhanger of him delivering poisoned tarts to the royal family in the last scene of the series, he claims that his "canon ending" is Kevin successfully killing them all and achieving his revenge for the death of his family.
• Shallow Parody:
  • Despite Prince George and his younger siblings being the show's primary focus, so little is publicly known about the real Royal Children's personal lives and personalities that there is almost nothing the show can actually parody about them. The way they're presented in the series (George as an snarky, entitled snob who acts more like a middle-aged gay man from Los Angeles than a British child, Charlotte as a child spy for Russia, and Louis as a gruff working-class football hooligan) is completely invented by the writers with no basis whatsoever in reality, and is instead heavily derivative of tropes already done to death by other adult animated sitcoms, particularly Family Guy.
  • The premise of the show hinges on being a shocking and vulgar subversion of the public's romanticised view of the British Royal Family. Coincidentally, in the months leading to its release, the real Royal Family were subjected to a series of scandals and controversies that heavily damaged their reputation. As the show was in production before the majority of these incidents became public, and its release was delayed further because of them, these real events are not depicted or referenced at all, and its more standard, sitcom-style portrayal of the Royal Family feels far more toothless and superficial than the creators had intended.
• Unintentional Period Piece: This is a show based on real people, and with the ages of everyone involved (and even they missed the boat anyway with Prince Philip), this is a show that could have ONLY taken place in early 2021 when the show was planned to air. It reflects the fact that at the time of the show's development, Harry and Meghan had just recently moved to California; and George, Charlotte, and Louis were 8, 6, and 3, respectively. Shortly before the show premiered, Prince Philip passed away; and then a year and a half later, the Queen passed away, making Charles king and Camilla queen consort. This makes the whole drama about his begrudging impatience and desire to be king (and essentially the entire series) completely moot.
• The Woobie: Camilla Parker Bowles is often blasted by Elizabeth for virtually no reason.

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