COMEDIAN Lee Mack took a swipe at British Prime Minister Boris Johnson over the Partygate scandal at an event to celebrate Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee.
Mack was appearing at the Platinum Party at the Palace on Saturday night in front a crowd of 22,000 and a reported TV audience of 13million.
And with Johnson sitting in the royal box close to Prince Charles and Prince William, Mack couldn't resist a joke about the controversy that has dogged the PM in recent months.
Lee Mack, take a bow sir! Absolutely brilliant 👏 #PlatinumJubilee pic.twitter.com/6n1VVp34wp
— Adam Hamilton (@AdzHamerz) June 4, 2022
"Welcome to the Platinum Party at the Palace," said Mack, whose great-grandmother was from Co. Mayo.
"We are here right outside the gates of Buckingham Palace for the party of a lifetime.
"And I tell you what — finally we can say the words 'party' and 'gate' and it's a positive!
"That wasn't in the autocue, admittedly."
Partygate was the name given to the political scandal that saw gatherings take place in Downing Street and other government buildings in breach of Covid-19 lockdowns.
While Johnson's reaction wasn’t captured on camera, BBC News reported that the joke prompted jeers from the Prime Minister.
Mack's joke was applauded by fans and fellow comedians on Twitter, where the 1% Club host was trending at ninth in Britain and 18th globally.
Lee Mack. That’s the tweet. Just to keep him trending 👊🏼
— Omid Djalili (@omid9) June 4, 2022
Lee Mack. Take a bow. 😂😂
— Jason Manford (@JasonManford) June 4, 2022
Lee Mack taking the piss out of Johnson right slap bang in the middle of the Jubilee party in front of the entire Royal Family and live on television while Johnson was there is fucking brilliant ... couldn't have happened to a nicer guy!
— John Spiers (@squeezyjohn) June 4, 2022
"Finally, we can say party and gate and it's a positive"
Lee Mack taking the chance to mock Boris Johnson to his face on national television
— Edward Hardy (@EdwardTHardy) June 5, 2022
“I once royally took the piss out of the Prime Minister directly in front of him whilst he was surrounded by 3 future Kings and being watched by millions of people” - Lee Mack #PlatinumPartyatthePalace pic.twitter.com/lLYTaAHWD9
— Joe Public (@findthemoron) June 4, 2022
Mack's joke is the second embarrassment for Johnson during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
The PM was roundly booed by a crowd outside St Paul's Cathedral on Friday morning as he arrived for the Queen's thanksgiving service.
Johnson was issued with a fixed penalty notice for attending a birthday party at 10 Downing Street on June 19, 2020, during a national lockdown.
The Prime Minister had initially denied that any rules had been broken.
However, an investigation by civil servant Sue Gray into 16 gatherings in and around Downing Street during lockdown found Johnson had attended eight of these.
Her report stated that 'many of these gatherings and the way in which they developed was not in line with Covid guidance at the time'.
Johnson was one of 83 people issued with fixed penalty notices by the police in relation gatherings in and around Downing Street that breached lockdown regulations.
