‘Hello the Vatican residence!’: Late Pope Benedict XVI was a ‘big fan of ’90s sitcom Keeping Up Appearances and mimicked snobby Hyacinth Bucket’s telephone catchphrase’
The late Pope Benedict XVI was reportedly a huge fan of ’90s sitcom Keeping Up Appearances it’s been revealed in a new documentary.
The comedy followed the trials and tribulations of snobby Dame Patricia Routledge’s character Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced ‘Bouquet’) as she attempted to climb the social ladder.
And the former head of the Catholic Church, who passed away last year, was such a fan it’s been said he would even mimic the character’s iconic telephone catrchpharse.
Vatican residence: The late Pope Benedict XVI was reportedly a huge fan of ’90s sitcom Keeping Up Appearances it’s been revealed in a new documentary (Dame Patricia Routledge pictured in the show)
According to the documentary: ‘There’s a rumour that Pope Benedict did an impression of Hyacinth’s telephone catchphrase, ‘Hello, this is the Bouquet residence.’
And Keeping Up Appearances: 30 Years Of Laughs, which airs Friday night, also revealed the show had some other very famous fans.
With Dame Patricia saying: ‘We were one of the Queen Mother’s favourite sitcoms, which was lovely, and the Queen enjoyed it, too’.
‘The Pope of the Catholic Church speaking!’: And the former head of the Catholic Church was such a fan it’s been said he would even reportedly mimic the character’s iconic telephone catrchpharse
Comedy gold: The comedy followed the trials and tribulations of snobby Dame Patricia Routledge’s character Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced ‘Bouquet’) as she attempted to climb the social ladder (pictured with co-star Clive Swift)
Before adding: ‘Hyacinth would have been flattered beyond words, and why not.’
The BBC show ran for five series, between 1990 and 1995 and in 2001 was listed amongst Channel 4’s Greatest 100 sitcoms of all time.
It comes after the show was given a viewer discretion warning for its release on the streaming service BritBox back in 2021.
Big fans: The late Queen and Queen Mother (pictured in 1985) were also reportedly big fans of the comedy
With the family sitcom featuring several jokes that have fallen foul of modern-day channel bosses.
In one episode Hyacinth and her husband visit her sister in the country and encounter a posh, well-spoken man.
Hyacinth then tells her husband that the stranger is ‘quent’, meaning eloquent, and ‘quent as a £4 note’.
In another episode, many of the show’s characters make jokes about a Polish person where they interrogate his right to be living in the UK.
As a result, Britbox has now added a disclaimer warning viewers that the series ‘contains language and attitudes of the era that may offend’, the Daily Star reports.
The ITV and BBC streaming service said: ‘We review and refresh BritBox’s programme catalogue on an ongoing basis.
‘Programming on the service that contains potentially sensitive language or attitudes of their era has carried appropriate warnings since our launch in November 2019, to ensure the right guidance is in place for viewers who are choosing to watch on demand.’
MailOnline has contacted BritBox for further comment at the time.
Modern audiences: The family sitcom features several jokes that have fallen foul of modern-day channel bosses
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