London - Nigel Farage, the leader of
Britain's Brexit Party, has lambasted Prince Harry and his
American wife Meghan along with other members of the royal
family in a speech in Australia, the Guardian newspaper reported
on Monday.
According to the Guardian, Farage ridiculed Harry's remarks
last month that the couple only wanted two children because of
the environmental impact, while he also described the Queen
Mother, the late mother of the monarch, as an "slightly
overweight, chain-smoking gin drinker".
Despite having repeatedly failed to be elected to Britain's
parliament, Farage has over the last decade become one of the
most prominent political figures in the country, first as leader
of UKIP and now head of the Brexit Party, which came out on top
in the UK in May's European Parliament elections.
Media were not present for Farage's speech to Sydney’s
Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday but the
Guardian said it had heard a recording of part of it.
Farage's spokesman said the comments had been taken out of
context and the Guardian had "been naughty".
"They're playing fast and loose with this," he said.
While Farage, who relishes his reputation as a
plain-speaking man of the people, lavished praise on the Queen,
saying she was "an amazing, awe-inspiring woman, we’re bloody
lucky to have her", he derided her son and heir Prince Charles.
"When it comes to her son, when it comes to Charlie Boy and
climate change, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Her mother, Her Royal
Highness the queen’s mother, was a slightly overweight,
chain-smoking gin drinker who lived to 101 years old," he said
according to the paper.
"All I can say is Charlie Boy is now in his 70s ... may the
queen live a very, very long time."
LIVE FOREVER
He also took aim at Charles's younger son Harry and his wife
Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
"Well, if I want the queen to live a long time to stop
Charlie Boy becoming king, I want Charlie Boy to live even
longer and William to live forever to stop Harry becoming king,”
Farage was quoted as saying.
"Terrifying! Here was Harry, here he was this young, brave,
boisterous, all male, getting into trouble, turning up at stag
parties inappropriately dressed, drinking too much and causing
all sorts of mayhem. He was the most popular royal of a younger
generation that we’ve seen for 100 years.
"And then he met Meghan Markle, and it’s fallen off a
cliff."
Farage's spokesman said the comments were not meant as
criticism of Elizabeth's mother, the wife of George VI who died
in 2002, and the paper appeared to have taken off the cuff
answers and changed their meaning.
"This is not an attack on the Queen Mother in the slightest.
It's basically saying she lived until 101 so the queen, given
that she has a much better lifestyle than the Queen Mother, will
live for a lot longer," the spokesman said.
Farage's brand of populism and anti-EU rhetoric helped force
the government of David Cameron to hold the 2016 EU referendum
and then was a leading figure in the successful campaign to
secure a vote in favour of Brexit.