Channel 4 today revealed a first look at its coronation special for its Royal Family spoof The Windsors.
In a trailer for the comedy, shared exclusively with Femail, we see characters Prince Harry (played by Richard Goulding) and Meghan Markle (Kathryn Drysdale) enjoying their “simple life” at their mansion in Montecito, California.
“I love it… everything back to basics,” says Richard’s Harry, before asking his three waiters to stand by the “Oprah statue.”
“And the amazing thing is that we paid for it all ourselves, without sacrificing our royal connections,” the character adds.
The soap opera-inspired sitcom returns on Sunday, April 30, less than a week before King Charles III’s coronation at Westminster Abbey on May 6.
A second trailer shows Harry Enfield, who plays a power-hungry Charles, and Haydn Gwynne, as conniving stepmother Camilla, after their coronation.
Dressed in huge crowns and dazzling capes, the couple invite their “relatives” to join them on the balcony “to wave to the idiots,” says Haydn’s Camilla.
Characters in the long episode are Louise Ford as Princess of Wales, Ellie White as Princess Beatrice and Celeste Dring as Princess Eugenie.
They are joined by Vicki Pepperdine as Princess Anne, Matthew Cottle as Prince Edward and Morgana Robinson as Kate’s sister Pippa.
The official synopsis for the program reads: ‘Charles’ whole life has built up to this moment and he wants the UK’s first coronation in seventy years to be a spectacular affair with all the pomp and circumstance he deserves.
‘Just like his queen consort Camilla, who can’t wait to dress in diamonds and furs. Sadly, the UK is in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis and Wills (Hugh Skinner) thinks the coronation should reflect these trying times.
As for Harry and Meghan, with their Netflix series and Harry’s book behind them, they are finally free of Windsor’s family problems and can focus on their simple lives in California. But can they really afford to miss Harry’s father’s coronation?’
Head of Channel 4 comedy Joe Hallait said: ‘Every channel worth its salt has a historic show with the word coronation in the title.
Channel 4 today revealed a first look at its coronation special for its Royal Family spoof The Windsors. In a trailer for the comedy, shared exclusively with Femail, we see characters Prince Harry (played by Richard Goulding, pictured) and Meghan Markle (Kathryn Drysdale) enjoying their “simple life” at their mansion in Montecito, California
A second trailer shows Harry Enfield, who plays a power-hungry Charles, and Haydn Gwynne, as conniving stepmother Camilla, after their coronation
‘For the BBC it was the world’s first televised Coronation in 1953. For ITV it is the world’s longest running soap opera Coronation Street.
“We at Channel 4 are delighted to announce that we now have our own record-breaking coronation jewel at the heart of our broadcasting crown: the funniest show on television during a momentous historic week for Britain.”
The comedy spoof previously foresaw the Sussexes’ move to America a year before the real drama unfolded.
“It’s a chair-of-the-pants operation,” said writer Bert Tyler More, who honed his craft with George Jeffrie on sketch shows like Ruddy Hell! It’s Harry & Paul and The Armstrong & Miller Show, and created Star Stories, Channel 4’s celebrity parody.
“Oddly enough, we predicted a move to America for Meghan and Harry, so it’s almost as if events are turning out exactly as we predicted.
The official synopsis for the program reads: ‘Charles’ whole life has built up to this moment and he wants the UK’s first coronation in seventy years to be a spectacular affair with all the pomp and circumstance he deserves’
“We saw that there was a feud brewing and there was a bit of bad luck, so we thought that might be the result.”
The show started in 2016 when the writing duo made parodies of all the main members of the family – except the Queen and Prince Philip.
“I think from the start everyone thought that the Queen is so well loved and respected and isn’t doing much wrong that it was better to stay out of the way,” Bert explained. “There’s not much to get the mickey out of, while the others have plenty.”
The most recent season, series three, followed Harry and Meghan’s royal wedding special in 2018, and saw the couple adjust to life as new parents with Harry trying to stick to Meghan’s clean lifestyle.
‘Just like his queen consort Camilla, who can’t wait to dress in diamonds and furs. Sadly, the UK is in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis and Wills (Hugh Skinner, left in picture) believes the coronation should reflect these more difficult times.
Bert and George claimed they have heard the show has had a mixed response from the royals. “William was giving a speech on Channel 4 and he’d obviously been watching it because he was referring to it,” said George.
But it didn’t seem like he was angry. We’ve heard other people get a little upset about it, like Charles and Fergie. But it’s all hearsay.’
Neither Bert nor George are Royalists, and they consider it essential that parodies of such institutions exist, whether you like them or not.
He added, “We try to make all of our characters lovable. The trick is to win over both those who are fans of the royal family and those who are not. I think we managed that.’
The Windsors Coronation Special is on Channel 4 and All 4 on Sunday 30 April at 9pm
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