Ricky Gervais On Queen Elizabeth II Nazi Salute: ‘She Was 7’

Her majesty Queen Elizabeth II is currently under fire in the British tabloids because of old family footage released by The Sun on Saturday. In the clip, which was probably recorded in 1933 or 1934, Elizabeth (7) and her younger sister Margaret (3) are encouraged to give what appears to be the infamous “Nazi salute” by their uncle Prince Edward, a known Nazi sympathizer who subsequently took the throne for a short time as King Edward VIII.

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson told CNN, “It is disappointing that film, shot eight decades ago and apparently from (Her Majesty’s) personal family archive, has been obtained and exploited in this manner.” However, the Queen’s loudest and most staunch defender has been none other than comedian Ricky Gervais, who took to Twitter Saturday morning to lay out just how ridiculous the whole thing is.

Never one to shy away from shock, Gervais made the requisite Michael Jackson joke:

Remember, this was before Michael Jackson’s Thriller had all those awful implications. pic.twitter.com/EXXVgAiwQv

— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) July 18, 2015

Followed by the equally necessary “Why is this news?” question:

If the Queen does another Nazi Salute let me know about it. Until then…she was 7 and it didn’t even have it’s eventual context. Not news. — Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) July 18, 2015

Of course, being that Gervais is a self-deprecating satirist, he couldn’t help but make the whole thing about himself:

Now I’m terrified someone is going to dig up a photo of me praying when I was 7.

— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) July 18, 2015

Never mind The Queen, I actually looked like a tiny Hitler when I was 7. pic.twitter.com/lpyvCGvaYr — Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) July 18, 2015

Honestly, sans a tiny version of Hitler’s famous mustache, Gervais is right. He actually looks a little like the German dictator, give or take a few decades (and prison time).

Check out the clip below, courtesy of The Sun:

[h/t The Sun, CNN, The Hollywood Reporter]
[Image via Twitter]

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