Prince Harry, Meghan Markle fans lose cool over 'vile' joke about Archie

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's fans have expressed their anger over a "vile" joke about Prince Archie.

King Charles' Coronation on May 6 coincides with Harry and Meghan's son Archie's fourth birthday. As per tradition, the royals are expected to gather on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after the ceremony at Westminster Abbey to watch the procession.

With this in mind, Robert Jobson joked that the monarch would blow out his grandson's birthday candles and then held his hands out in imitation and referred to "that Michael Jackson thing where they hold him over..."

Jobson said it in homage to the way Michael Jackson notoriously did with his son Blanket on the fifth floor of Hotel Adlon in Berlin in November 2002. At the time, he said: "I got caught up in the excitement of the moment. I would never intentionally endanger the lives of my children."

Harry and Meghan's fans took to Twitter to slam the joke as "tasteless" and "vile", with one reacting: "Hearing King Charles' biographer boldly state that Prince Archie should be held over the Buckingham Palace balcony during the coronation is vile..."

Another commented: "Robert Jobson thinks it would be funny to dangle Archie over the balcony."

Musician Stella Parton said the joke was "tasteless" and admitted she "couldn't believe it" when she heard the remark. She tweeted: "Was anyone else shocked by the British media making such a tasteless joke about Harry and Meghan’s son Archie being put over the balcony at the Coronation?

"These are evil people! I couldn’t believe it when I heard it!"

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who are on the guest list for the coronation, want to be part of the "special family moment" when royals gather.