Comedian Bill Bailey has lauded King Charles III's "underestimated" skills as he received an MBE today.
The 61-year-old praised the monarch's "wit" and "comedy" as the prestigious honour was bestowed upon him by Princess Anne at Windsor Castle.
The comments from Mr Bailey, who received the MBE for services to entertainment, come in the wake of His Majesty's US State Visit.
During the trip, the sovereign delivered a 30-minute Congress address - the first reigning monarch to do so since his mother in 1991 - before turning on the charm during a short speech at a State Dinner later in the evening.
The King made subtle nods to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the importance of Nato, amid Donald Trump's public dismissal of the international organisation.
But both speeches were also littered with cheeky quips, delivered with charm - namely, when Charles reminded the President, following his remarks that Britain "would be speaking German" if not for America, that actually the US "would be speaking French" if not for the UK.
And when receiving his award from the Princess Royal at the investiture ceremony, Mr Bailey expressed his admiration for how "witty" and "beautifully measured" her elder brother had been during the visit.
"We talked about comedy, talked about the importance of humour, and saying how well the King did in his speech in America to Congress," the comedian said after the event.
Comedian Bill Bailey has lauded King Charles III's 'underestimated' skills as he received an MBE today
|PA
"It was witty, it was beautifully measured.
"And it sort of shows that, actually, comedy has a way of getting under the radar a little bit. It has got a mercurial quality to it.
"I think [King Charles] is underestimated as a speaker.
"I think he’s always been a great speaker, but I think [the State Visit] really showed off that side of it.
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And when receiving his award from the Princess Royal at the investiture ceremony, Mr Bailey expressed his admiration for how 'witty' and 'beautifully measured' her elder brother had been during the visit
|PA
"It was very well conceived and thought through."
Mr Bailey's comedic career exploded in 1995, when his Channel 4 television show Bill Bailey’s Cosmic Jam won the Edinburgh Festival Critics Award.
He subsequently became a regular on the BBC, with his own show Is It Bill Bailey?, before appearances on flagship programmes Have I Got News For You and QI.
Later, he became the oldest winner of Strictly Come Dancing, with his remarkable victory in 2020. He described this as "a big highlight" that "gave me more confidence."
But the TV personality was keen to highlight his concerns over the impact AI could have on particular industries.
"Obviously [AI] is a big threat to the creative industries.
"But I think that if anything, people now value live performance more than anything else.
"I think that if AI does anything to what I do, it is that it focuses people’s thoughts.
"The communal feeling, that sense of belonging, that live performance does that AI can’t ever really replicate."
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