Spoiler: He's not a fan

Frankie Boyle is working on a new Channel 4 show about why the Royal Family should be abolished. 

The 75-minute stand-up and documentary special, titled Frankie Boyle: Monarchy, will be the comedian's first project with the broadcaster in a decade.

He tweeted: 'Been researching a thing on the history of the British monarchy. It's a bit like rewatching The Sopranos: eventually you start to get exhausted by the lack of any sympathetic characters.'

The British Comedy Guide revealed more about the show, including its title. And they quoted the Channel 4 blurb as saying Boyle would be examining 'our most infamous child-murdering, wife-beheading, empire-building, nation-destroying monarchs…. [and] wonders will the monarchy soon be put out of its misery as it slips gently away under the soft pillow of our collective apathy?'

Boyle has long been hostile to the Monarchy, but speaking at Latitude Festival last month he revealed that he had been approached to take part in the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations, telling the crowd: 'I have never been so overwhelmed with the feeling that my work has been misunderstood.'

At the same gig he said he wished people would stop speculating about the Queen dying as 'that's going rob my enjoyment of the event when it happens'.

And in 2008, he drew Royalists' ire with a joke on Mock The Week about the Queen's pussy being 'haunted'. Following complaints, the BBC Trust ruled he had broken no guidelines but did criticise the gag for being sexist and ageist.

The show is one of a number of provocative commissions announced by Channel 4 today, including a Prince Andrew musical from comedian Kieran Hodgson, the return of Friday Night Live and a programme about ‘cancel culture’ with Jimmy Carr.

Published: 21 Aug 2022