British-born actor Malcolm McDowell shut down Bill Maher's attempt at a quip about Queen Elizabeth II during a recent interview on the former talk-show star's Club Random podcast.
McDowell—best known for his lead role in the 1968 satirical drama, If, and who stars in director Josh Morgan's new comedy, Thelma—was born in Yorkshire, England, but has since become a U.S. citizen.
Speaking to the star on a pre-recorded episode of Club Random released on July 21, Maher told him: "It's the Fourth of July tomorrow and you're an American now and I don't want any b******* about the mother-country or the queen or any of that."
To this McDowell issued a swift correction. "The queen, excuse me, she passed away a year ago," he said of the late Elizabeth, who died in September 2022 after celebrating her 70th year on the throne just months earlier.
"It's the king now!" he clarified for Maher, in reference to King Charles III, who inherited the throne from his mother.
This sparked a lengthy debate about the monarchy between the two which included Maher likening the institution to a "corpse in the attic" and describing its members as "inbreds."
The former late-night host rejected McDowell's comparison of the monarchy to the Declaration of Independence as a "collection of ideas," but did concede that it may be useful for America to have a "royal family" to field gossip.
"I think the selfless thing to do would be for someone to have the guts to completely renounce the monarchy and say, 'We should just retire this, its antiquated,' but also I get it serves a purpose," he said, going on to say that the monarchy provides an "emotional solace" for the public and a "rallying point."
"That is important," he said. "Maybe we should have a royal family—other than the Kardashians of course—who could, like, take all the gossip. Because that's the thing, the royal family takes all the gossip. Not that there isn't gossip with the regular politicians too. But they take a lot of that and there is an argument for you need someone just to do the ceremonial stuff."
When McDowell suggested that Americans made up the "biggest fans" of the royal family, Maher jokingly agreed.
"You're so right. Which speaks to the point that maybe we need one because they yearn for it."
Newsweek has approached representatives of Maher via email for comment.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about Charles and Queen Camilla, Prince William and Princess Kate, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
