She named comedy as her favourite TV show

The Queen has named The Kumars At No 42 as her favourite TV programme.

She was such a fan that she could even ‘recite some of the one-liners from the grandma character’ played by Meera Syal.

The revelation comes from former BBC journalist Phil Jones, who broke the tradition of never revealing private conversations with the monarch to share the news.

Writing in his diary for The New Statesman, Jones said he has kept the story secret for 21 years after he was told of the convention, but reveals it now to show the Queen’s love of the BBC.

He says that as they ‘chatted for ages’, she told him she was a listener to Terry Wogan’s Radio 2 show, and in a bid to keep the conversation going he asked: ‘What’s your favourite programme?’

‘Straight away, she said, The Kumars at No 42 and, even more astonishingly, proceeded to recite some of the one-liners from the grandma character, played by the brilliant Meera Syal

‘But why was I really surprised? Her favourite programme was about a family of Asian immigrants settled in the UK. Maybe the Queen genuinely supports multiculturalism, loves BBC sitcoms and has a wicked sense of humour. All of which leaves me a little torn because, putting it delicately, I’m not the world’s greatest royalist.

‘You can now count me among that growing group of republicans who don’t like the monarchy much but suspect the Queen is a good egg.’

Sanjeev Bhaskar, who played the central character Sanjeev and is married to Syal, tweeted today: ‘I couldn’t possibly comment.’

The Kumars At No 42 ran from 2001 to 2006 and was briefly revived by Sky in 2014. It revolves around Sanjeev hosting a chat show from the Wembley family home, facing interruptions from parents Madhuri and Ashwin (Indira Joshi and Vincent Ebrahim), and his grandmother.

Published: 25 Feb 2022