Joke’s on Him in Royal Quips : British Exhibition Sacks Its Irreverent Court Jester

The court jester at the Royal Britain Exhibition was suspended today for making unkind jokes about the Royal Family. He earlier had been warned to stop or get the sack.

Kim Keble-White said James Lovell, a 24-year-old actor, could have his job back if he cut the offending material from his act.

Lovell, who traveled to and from work in tricorn hat, bells and quartered red and green outfit, was not available for comment after the announcement, but said earlier today he would not alter his performance.

In somewhat medieval syntax, Lovell said he realized his boss was irritated, “but Lord fool him for being thus inflamed, for I am the fool, and therefore for him to get inflamed by my foolery makes him a fool, for sure.”

“He is acting with artistic pique,” declared Keble-White, marketing director of the exhibition, who said the young jester had been “doing a super job” before turning his wit on contemporary targets.

For example: “What is small, silent and lonely and lives in a stable? Captain Phillips.” That is a gibe at shy, horse-loving Mark Phillips, whose separation from his wife, Princess Anne, was announced last week.

A parody on the eccentricities of Prince Charles, heir to the throne, is another feature of Lovell’s act for visitors to the exhibition on British royalty through the ages.

He does a three-minute monologue of Charles talking to a sunflower, inspired by the prince’s revelation some years back that he talks to his plants to encourage growth.

Executives of Unicorn Heritage, which owns Royal Britain, saidLovell is an excellent jester but has overstepped his assignment, which is to make fun of medieval royalty.

Keble-White said he had received no complaints from Buckingham Palace or the 500,000 people who have visited the exhibition in London’s financial district since it opened in August, 1988.