Steve Coogan has opened up about why he considers himself an “anti-monarchist” – even if he does like King Charles III’s orange juice.
The comedian, who recently took his acting career in a different direction by playing Jimmy Savile in BBC drama The Reckoning, has previously admitted to having an “enormous respect” for the late Queen, despite not being a fan of the royal family.
Appearing on comedy food podcast Off Menu, the Alan Partridge actor admitted to hosts Ed Gamble and James Acaster that he enjoyed the Duchy of Cornwall’s own brand of orange juice.
“I do like King Charles’s Duchy of Cornwall produce, even though I am an anti-monarchist,” he said. “It’s interesting, because I buy that stuff and go, ‘I don’t like having a royal family but I do like his produce,’ so I feel a bit torn.”
“I think you can be anti-monarchist but also admit they’ve done some things right,” Gamble reasoned of the orange juice.
In response, Coogan continued: “It’s just because most of the people that are into it all, those flag-waving plastic boats of people, I think are kind of idiots because they support a power structure that keeps the foot on the throat of working class people and I’m just not very keen on that kind of thing.”
Acaster agreed, with Coogan stressing: “But, having said that, the Queen worked very hard. So she was alright. But the rest of them are problematic for me.”
Coogan described himself as ‘an anti-monarchist’— (Getty Images)
“I guess they’re also, while they’ve got their foot on the throat, they’re pouring juice in the mouth,” Acaster joked.
Coogan continued: “At least King Charles, if he, as the head of a power structure, even unwittingly and subconsciously, has his foot collectively on the throats of working class people by being party to a power structure that rewards- blah blah blah. You can fill in the rest yourself.”
The comic has previously spoken about his relationship with the royals after co-writing and starring in The Lost King, about the real-life discovery of King Richard III’s remains beneath a car park in Leicester.
Explaining that he wasn’t a monarchist, he clarified in an interview: “The caveat I have to add to that is that I had huge and enormous respect for the late Queen – that’s a separate thing. “People who have displayed conscientious duty deserve great respect.”
Earlier this month, it was reported that a University of Leicester academic who helped uncover the remains of Richard III is suing over claims he was portrayed as a “bully” in Coogan’s The Lost King.
