Twitter Users Had Fun Heckling Prince Harry For Suggesting ‘Fortnite’ Be Banned

Prince Harry — Duke of Sussex, sixth in line for the British throne, and husband of nine-months-pregnant Meghan Markle of Suits and marrying-a-freaking-prince fame — caused a bit of a kerfuffle on Wednesday while visiting a YMCA in West London to discuss the effects of social media and violent video games on children with a group of mental health experts. He seemed to desire a ban on the game Fortnite, currently the world’s most popular free-to-play game. Some of his choicest quotes during the event were rounded up by The Daily Express and published Thursday:

“The game [Fortnite] shouldn’t be allowed. […] Where is the benefit of having it in your household […] It’s created to addict, an addiction to keep you in front of a computer for as long as possible. It’s so irresponsible. […] Parents have got their hands up — they don’t know what to do about it. […] It’s like waiting for the damage to be done.”

Not everyone was chuffed about Fortnite being insulted. Jokers on Twitter quickly hit upon the most obvious opening volley:

— Memeulous (@Memeulous) April 4, 2019

[loses to an 8-year-old in fortnite once] https://t.co/iSB3ujKZkC

— Josh Billinson (@jbillinson) April 4, 2019

sounds like someone sucks at Fortnite https://t.co/9w3vwr5fAx

— Casey Kolderup (@ckolderup) April 4, 2019

Prince Harry only wants to ban Fortnite because he knows he'll never get a victory royal

— Dr Grandayy (@grandayy) April 4, 2019

People also took note of Prince Harry and Meghan breaking a Guinness World Record on Tuesday for reaching one million Instagram followers in the shortest time (5 hours and 45 minutes) after launching their SussexRoyal account. Somebody already had the account by that name (and he’s not happy about losing it), so even that detail was brought up:

— ABeardedViking/DFost (@djfoster08) April 5, 2019

Anyone else enjoying the irony of Prince Harry criticising social media whilst simultaneously stealing someone elses' instagram account #PrinceHarry #Royals #MeghanMarkle #fortnite #RoyalFamily

— GameStarter (@GameStarterMan) April 4, 2019

*creates Instagarm account*

SoCiAl MeDiA iS lIkE dRuGs AnD aLcOhOl

— Tomatoboi (PewDiePie Road To 100Mil) (@TomatoGodBoi) April 4, 2019

Others went in more unique directions for their commentary, with critics even pointing out the recent Oxford University study which found no link between teenagers’ video game use and violent behavior, though it should be noted the Prince never claimed the game causes violence:

— Mike Sucks At Tw­itter (@tatershark) April 4, 2019

Look, Prince Harry is right. Fortnite should be banned and so should every other game with a crafting mechanic

— pixelatedboat aka “mr tweets” (@pixelatedboat) April 5, 2019

Prince Harry: Fortnite bad

Literally Oxford: pic.twitter.com/rhhseThN1J

— NukeNacho (@NukeNacho) April 4, 2019

And some critics of the monarchy cut right to the quick.

— Jarvis Dupont (@JarvisDupont) April 4, 2019

I'm 99% sure prince harry thinks "fortnite gaming" means playing video games for two weeks straight https://t.co/RRreUTiNDn

— alexis nedd (@alexisthenedd) April 4, 2019

Prince Harry saying Fortnite should be banned is getting more attention then a royal wedding.

— KEEM (@KEEMSTAR) April 5, 2019

I'm not a fan of interfering royals who have a position solely through birthright and would like to see them banned!

— Mr Bojangles (@Botty_Cello) April 4, 2019

The money spent on his fucking wedding could have sent every child in the UK on holiday for a fortnite. https://t.co/y7gPihEOx9

— THE PYRAMID (@robertflorence) April 4, 2019

I don't want my kids addicted to Fortnite but equally I don't want to be lectured by a prince with no experience of children, and whose future children will be able to knock about the palace gardens instead of sitting inside playing videogames https://t.co/JNlki7Yl5J

— Anita Singh (@anitathetweeter) April 4, 2019

Even Harry’s grandfather Prince Philip flipping a Land Rover became fodder for jokes:

It's a shame he didn't stop his grandad from getting addicted to Grand Theft Auto…

— The Tears of a Clown (@Modmuffin) April 4, 2019

Oh well. At least there’s definitely nothing worse than social media and video game addiction plaguing England right now:

— Ronny Chieng (@ronnychieng) April 4, 2019