New royal blood gives The Windsors a shot in the arm

F ollowing an underwhelming opening series last year, I wasn’t expecting much from the return of Channel’s 4’s royal comedy The Windsors. So imagine my surprise when it turned out to be the funniest thing on television so far this month. Admittedly, we’re only a few days in. Plus, its only real competition was Caroline Flack’s latest slo-mo catwalk strut on Love Island. (NB. To clarify, I’m laughing with her, not at her.) Still, it’s amazing how new arrivals, actual storylines and better jokes can improve a sitcom’s strike rate. The best of the newcomers was undoubtedly Theresa May (Gillian Bevan), pictured right, who arrived with Mrs Thatcher’s voice and Mrs Merkel’s presence and announced, “I’m not in this job to make friends.” So if anyone tells you The Windsors isn’t true to life… May’s unlikely alliance with Camilla already looks like a writing team masterstroke, as does Pippa’s burgeoning love rivalry with another newcomer Meghan Markle, played by Kathryn Drysdale. For me that’s just more evidence that, rather like the real Royal Family, the female characters are by far the most interesting. To be honest, of the fellas only Harry Enfield’s Prince Charles would be missed. The ladies are all brilliant – from smaller parts, such as Katy Wix’s Fergie and Vicki Pepperdine’s Princess Anne, to main players such as Haydn Gwynne’s Camilla and Louise Ford’s Kate. The picks of the bunch, though, are Ellie White and Celeste Dring as Beatrice and Eugenie. I could genuinely listen to Ellie stretching the word “scallops” to six syllables all night.