AMANDA PLATELL: Harry and Meghan’s venge-fest has backfired and our royals are thriving 

Just over three years ago, in January 2020, the Sussexes fled to Canada, declaring they had to step back as “senior working royals.”

To explain, Meghan had already talked about the difficulty of being in the royal spotlight in an ITV documentary: “It’s not enough to just survive,” she said. “You must thrive.”

Thanks to their departure, things looked very ominous for the royal family. And then came that Oprah interview, just weeks after Philip died in 2021, when the Queen was still grieving. The couple suggested that the beastly Windsors Meghan were not welcome, that they were cold and uncaring – and there were insinuations of racism.

After her and Harry’s raucous attacks, many of us feared that the monarchy would never recover from the horribly unedifying sight of royal linen being publicly washed with so much poison.

But fast forward to today and a new MailOnline poll reveals that the monarchy under King Charles and Queen Camilla is more popular than anyone could have hoped.

And that despite the selfish Netflix docuseries and Harry’s memoir Spare, in which he spared no one.

Despite the efforts of the Sussexes, an overwhelming majority of Britons think the royal family is good for Britain and 64 percent think Charles will prove to be a good king.

As for narcissists Meghan and Harry, 64 percent of those polled want him removed from the line of succession — which is hardly surprising considering that nearly half of the public believe Harry has done more to harm the monarchy than even to shame Prince Andrew, who is, of course, so tarnished by his association with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

And how awful it must be for Meghan that the result of the torpedoes they have aimed at “bullying” William and “cold” Kate is the exact opposite of what they had hoped for. The popularity of the Prince and Princess of Wales has skyrocketed, with 71 per cent saying they are good role models for Britain, compared to the Sussex score of just 14 per cent.

The truth is that their mercenary attacks have only strengthened the support of the British people for the royal family. Harry and Meghan’s revenge party has backfired spectacularly – because as a result, the monarchy not only survives, but thrives.

Sink a Bud Light

After a ferocious backlash and a $4 billion drop in value, Budweiser withdrew its ads featuring trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

It then hurriedly released an ad featuring the brand’s famous Clydesdale horses galloping across the prairies with the message, “This is the story of the American spirit.”

No, it’s the story of a company so engrossed in the cult of wakefulness that it lost track of the millions of people who buy Bud Light.

On Good Morning Britain, Fergie explains that it’s royal protocol that kept her from being invited to the coronation and it’s not a censure – it’s because she’s divorced. So is Camilla! And Charles, by the way.

Moggies also need homes

My moggie Ted was very touched as he watched Paul O’Grady’s funeral procession, where Paul’s husband rocked their dog Conchita and mutts from Battersea Dogs & Cats Home formed a guard of honour.

Ted wanted to remind people that Battersea also saves cats, like him, and gives them a forever home, like ours. But he never wanted to be at the funeral – he hates dogs.

When Elon Musk’s £2.5 billion rocket exploded in a spectacular fashion, his SpaceX company described the failure to take off as a “rapid unplanned teardown.”

We women continue to be amazed at the excuses guys can come up with.

Oh, put it down, Rihanna

Heavily pregnant Rihanna has been pictured cradling her second child with rapper A$AP Rocky, whom she refuses to name to protect his privacy, while proudly showing off the child’s Fendi jacket.

Kind of weird when the only name check is a designer label. And aren’t we getting a little tired of Rihanna flaunting her belly like she’s the first woman to ever get pregnant?

Olympic star Kelly Holmes says the effects of perimenopause — hot sweating, aches, pains, and lethargy — “kill her.”

In the near-hysteria now engulfing menopause, we should definitely reserve that kind of language for life-threatening illnesses like cancer.

Tuppence was created by Taylor

Slim actress Tuppence Middleton plays Elizabeth Taylor in Sam Mendes’ new play and says she’s terrified of playing the voluptuous movie goddess in her romance with Richard Burton, and maybe she should be.

When first meeting Liz, Richard said, “She was so extraordinarily beautiful that I almost laughed out loud. Her breasts were apocalyptic, they would topple empires before they withered.” It’s hard to follow even for the talented Tuppence.

Just Stop Oil refuses to rule out protests disrupting the London Marathon tomorrow. A dozen weedy, vegan, tofu-munching eco-warriors with tubes of super glue against a stampeding herd of 50,000 – many of them elite athletes? I don’t estimate their chances.

Eco zealots who tried to sabotage the Grand National say they were mistreated by police. An irate protester said he was “sprayed in the eyes with pepper spray by an officer.” What did he expect the cop to do: spray it on his toes?

Prince Harry is eager to return to California to celebrate his son Archie’s fourth birthday and will not be attending his father’s coronation concert. He won’t be alone with acts like Lionel Richie, Take That and Katy Perry. . .

Westminster wars

• Despite an inquiry that concluded Dominic Raab never “screamed or belittled” a member of staff in four and a half years, our cowardly Prime Minister is abandoning him and succumbing to false accusations of bullying by disgruntled, Tory-hating officials. The man stabbed Boris in the back and it seems to have become a habit.
• Unelected colleagues vow to block Suella Braverman’s tough new immigration law that stops judges from blocking deportations and frees us from the grip of the ECHR. Trying to block the will of the elected government in this way only reinforces the argument to take a wrecking ball to the House of Lords.
• Kemi Badenoch will amend the Equality Act to include a definition of biological sex, to enshrine gay spaces for women in law, and to allow girls’ schools to deny entry to trans children. And teachers won’t be forced to call students by their favorite pronouns, whatever they want. Good on her! Girls are supposed to be girls.

Extinction Rebellion leader Gail Bradbrook shops at Waitrose, buying tea from Vietnam, grapes from Chile and organic oranges from Spain in plastic containers wrapped in non-recyclable foil.

All told, the food in her shopping cart had traveled some 17,400 miles to reach the UK, and she drove it home in a polluting diesel car. It’s enough to make you choke.

Despite 200,000 surgeries and appointments canceled during their four-day strike, a massive rise in post-strike deaths and seven million on the waiting list, doctors are planning more union action. They may be carrying signs that say “Pay recovery for doctors,” but nothing will restore our faith in these medics without morale.