PRINCE PHILIP’S A FAN OF HIT BBC COMEDY The Royle family? My a***

PRINCE Philip loves to watch The Royle Family, according to show star Ricky Tomlinson.

The Duke of Edinburgh was outed as a fan by the Queen, who told charity fundraiser and Ricky lookalike Will Williams that Philip enjoyed the BBC comedy.

Ricky – who played gobby slob Jim Royle – told the story to his Royle co-star Ralf Little as they filmed their new Gold show, Ricky and Ralf’s Very Northern Road Trip.

The 80-year-old said: “I told you about my lookalike, his name’s Will and he’s from mid-wales.

“He does a lot of charity work and he got a medal in Caernarfon Castle off the Queen.

“And as she’s putting the medal on his coat, or whatever it is, she’s said to him, ‘I don’t watch your programme, but my husband loves it’.”

Will has used his resemblance to Ricky to raise thousands of pounds for charities in Wales, including Guide Dogs for the Blind.

Former Caernarfon mayor Hwyel Roberts has also previously spoken of the moment he introduced the Queen to Will back in 2010.

He said: “I explained that he was a lookalike for a famous TV actor and I said, ‘He appears in a programme called The Royle Family’.

“And she said, ‘Oh, is it about a man in a vest sitting on a settee?’

“And then Will said, ‘Oh, you watch it, Your Majesty?’ And she very quickly said, ‘I’ve seen it… once’.”

Hit sitcom The Royle Family was written by show stars Craig Cash and Caroline Aherne, who died of lung cancer in 2016, aged 52.

It also starred Sue Johnston, 76, who played Ricky’s onscreen wife Barbara.

She was awarded an OBE for charity work from the Queen in 2009, but said she suspected Her Majesty was not a fan of the down-to-earth show.

“I doubt she watches it,” she said. “I bet William and Harry do though. But I don’t think it would be quite her thing.”

The Duke of Edinburgh, who retired from royal duties in August 2017, turns 99 on Wednesday.