While he was living in the UK, Prince Harry learned a trick or two to win over audiences as a member of the British royal family. Now, he is putting those skills to use in California. On Friday, he had attendees at the British-American Business Council’s 65th Christmas luncheon laughing with a joke about his experience with the Windsors, whose palace life he compared to that of characters in a popular TV series: Downton Abbey, the TV series created by Julian Fellowes.

“People sometimes ask if growing up with the royal family was a bit like Julian’s Downton Abbey, Harry said, per People. “Yeah, but only one of those worlds is filled with drama, intrigue, elaborate dinners, marriages to Americans… and the other is a TV show.”

The youngest son of King Charles III also said that this corporate lunch was the first Christmas party he’s attended in “a while.” (As far as anyone knows, he won’t be joining the British royal family at Sandringham this year either.) During the event, Harry made another joke about how he felt about celebrating the Fourth of July for the first time in the United States. “It’s a new world to me, celebrating independence from Britain, and more specifically, independence from my great, great, great, great, great, great-grandfather.”

The Duke of Sussex also joked that next year he looks forward to welcoming fellow Britons crossing the Atlantic to attend the World Cup, provided, of course, they make it through customs. His reference to the Trump administration’s immigration policies came a day after his appearance on The Late Show, where he made another joke about American politics in conversation with Stephen Colbert. When Colbert denied that Americans are obsessed with royalty, Harry said. “Really? I hear you elected a king.” (In February, President Donald Trump used the title “king” in a Truth Social post.)

In 2020, soon after Meghan Markle and Harry moved to the United States, Page Six estimated that Harry could eventually charge up to $1 million for each of these talks. Soon, he signed with Harry Walker, the agency that since that year has represented him as a speaker at business events ever since. In November, he traveled to Ontario to speak on “service and leadership” for a group of real estate professionals.

Originally published in Vanity Fair Spain.