Pope gave his parody blessing to TV snob

DAME Patricia routledge’s snobbish character hyacinth Bucket ( which she pronounced ‘Bouquet’), in the much-missed Keeping Up Appearances, would be delighted to learn that not only did two Queens watch the BBC sitcom, but so did a Pope.

‘ There’s a rumour that Pope Benedict did an impression of hyacinth’s telephone catchphrase, “hello, this is the Bouquet residence.” If the rumours are true, his holiness wasn’t the only high-profile fan,’ reports Channel 5 documentary Keeping Up Appearances: 30 Years Of Laughs, to be aired tomorrow night.

Dame Patricia says: ‘We were one of the Queen Mother’s favourite sitcoms, which was lovely, and the Queen enjoyed it, too. hyacinth would have been flattered beyond words, and why not.’