This weekend is the Coronation of King Charles III, an event full of pomp and circumstance, all in the service of a monarch who arguably commands less respect than the Burger King mascot. One thing lost in the tabloid gibberish about Charles is that he’s a huge comedy fan.
An avowed appreciator of classic British comedy, including The Goon Show and Monty Python, he gave the latter a shout-out in his recent speech addressing the German parliament. So great is Charles’ Python fandom that, according to Eric Idle, he once asked the comedian to take a job as his personal court jester.
As Idle recounted in his book Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, he met then-Prince Charles during a dinner party at Billy Connolly’s house, which also featured famous guests such as Robin Williams — because, as Idle put it, the “Royal Heir loves comedians.”
At one point, Charles turned to Idle and said, “Eric, why don’t you become my jester?” As the rest of the room watched Idle with anticipation, he eventually replied, “Why would I want a f-cking awful job like that?”
Despite his flippant response, Idle admitted that he was secretly “very flattered,” noting that Charles responded by laughing rather than, say, demanding his immediate beheading.
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