BBC cuts Frankie Boyle after Comic Relief Queen joke
Controversial comedian Fankie Boyle was cut from a BBC3 broadcast of a Comic Relief event last night after he joked that he wished the Queen had died.
The routine, which came shortly after the Queen was released from hospital for gastroenteritis, also featured material on the Pope and Oscar Pistorius.
"I wish the Queen had died the night before the Royal Jubilee – I wish she'd just f***ing died," he said.
"But they wouldn't have been able to tell us that she'd died. They would have had to hollow out her body and get that guy who plays Gollum to wear it."
There were boos and gasps from the 12,500-strong crowd in at London's Wembley Arena when he made the joke.
Talking about Kate Middleton, the Scottish comedian then said: "I can't believe she is pregnant to be honest because she told me she was on the pill."
Boyle, who made a name for himself on satirical stand-up show Mock The Week, also targeted the furore over Jimmy Savile, saying: "I think the BBC made Jimmy Savile wear that jewellery so children could hear him coming."
In a line about the resignation of Pope Benedict, he said: "[The] Pope must have done something that even the Catholic church found unacceptable.
"My theory is that he f****d an adult woman."
Finally, he also made light of the upcoming court case featuring South African paraolympian Oscar Pistorius, saying: "Pistorius to me sounds like a spell Harry Potter would say to make your legs drop off."
Boyle was slapped on the wrist by Ofcom in 2011 after a joke about model Jordan's son, who suffers from severe autism and septo-optic dysplasia.
Channel 4 boss David Abraham was taken to task for failing to prevent the broadcast of the joke during a media committee hearing in parliament, with then-Tory MP Louise Mensch saying: "This is a disabled little boy we are talking about. Surely no cultural remit could ever possibly justify such a joke?"
Boyle frequently usually responds to those offended by his jokes using flippant, sarcastic asides, but his online profile reveals an intelligent and left-wing figure who likes to challenge social niceties and perceived political correctness.
