Panel jokes about the pledge of allegiance

Panellists on tonight’s Have I Got News For You inevitably turned their attention to tomorrow’s coronation.

At last night's recording, Paul Merton joked that the ceremony ‘is going to be happening soon I believe? I’m not sure when, sometime this year,’ prompting Maisie Adam to laugh: ‘Really? Oh, they should mention it!’

Alexander Armstrong – marking his 39th appearance then asked the teams about the pledge the Archbishop of Canterbury has asked everyone to make to King Charles, saying: ‘I swear that I will pay true allegiance to Your Majesty and to your heirs and successors according to law. So help me God’.

‘It’s nice and jovial isn't it?’, Adam said. ‘I also think it's very hard to say "So help me God" and not sound sarcastic. It's what your mum says before she absolutely bollocks you for not doing your homework. 

Speaking about Charles cutting down the ceremony compared to his mother’s, Ian Hislop said: ‘They’ve cut all these aristocrats pledging their allegiance, so it's only William who pledges his allegiance.

‘That's right - Prince William will be the only person to kneel before the king, pledging to be his father's "liegeman of life and limb",’ confirmed Armstrong. 

‘That’s somebody who’s got hold of a dictionary and just turned to the letter L,’ Merton said. 

Summing up the story Armstrong said: ‘his is Saturday’s coronation, where there are a number of TV celebrities on the guest list, including Bear Grylls, Jay Blades and Ant and Dec. Holly and Phil will also be up there at the front even though they haven't been invited.

‘There was drama leading up to the coronation when there were reports of a controlled explosion inside Buckingham Palace… presumably when Charles got a text from Meghan saying she could make it after all.’

Tonight’s #HIGNFY is hosted by @XanderArmstrong, with panellists @MaisieAdam and @camillalong joining Ian and Paul. BBC One at 9pm (also on iPlayer) pic.twitter.com/aVTsriGVB4

— Have I Got News For You (@haveigotnews) May 5, 2023

• The 65th series of Have I Got News For You continues on BBC One tonight at 9pm. The other panellist is Sunday Times columnist Camilla Long, who replaces the previously billed Helen Lewis.  

Published: 5 May 2023