Emmys 2022: Succession star Brian Cox jokes ‘keep it royalist!’ after Jesse Armstrong’s King Charles remark

‘Keep it royalist!’ star Brian Cox could be heard yelling

Tuesday 13 September 2022 07:29 BST

Jesse Armstrong jokes about King Charles III after winning Best Drama Series at Emmys

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Successionwriter Jesse Armstrong drew audible winces from the crowd at the 2022 Emmys ceremony on Monday night (12 September) with his comments about King Charles III.

The British screenwriter made the remarks while accepting the award for Outstanding Drama Series for his ferocious dynasty show, Succession.

“Big week for successions,” he said on stage. “New King in the UK, this for us. Evidently a little bit more voting for us than Prince Charles. I’m not saying we’re more legitimate in our position than he is, we’ll leave that to other people.”

Armstrong’s words were met with uncomfortable sounds from the audience at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, with Succession star Brian Cox, who was also on stage, chiming in with the advice: “Keep it royalist! Keep it royalist!”

Following the death of the Queen, aged 96, last week, Charles III automatically succeeded the throne, at the age of 73. In his first speech, he promised “lifelong service” to the United Kingdom as he paid a moving final farewell to “my darling Mama”.

Succession won three awards at this year’s Emmys: Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (Matthew Macfadyen), Best Writing for a Drama Series and Outstanding Drama Series.

Football comedy Ted Lasso also won three prizes, while wealth satire The White Lotus collected the most awards on the night, with five wins.

The ceremony drew strong reactions from fans, with some mocking its “atrocious” opening dance sequence to Friends and Law and Order: SVU theme songs.

And host Kenan Thompson wasted no time cracking a joke about Leonardo DiCaprio’s relationship history.