It's a Royal Knockout

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It's a Royal Knockout (officially entitled, according to IMDb The Grand Knockout Tournament) was a British slapstick television gameshow that aired on 15 June 1987, based on the original It's a Knockout (the British version of Jeux Sans Frontieres) but including members of the British Royal Family.

The programme was organised by Prince Edward, and featured himself, Princess Anne, the Duke and Duchess of York as team captains, each representing a chosen charity and dressed in novelty costumes, and was hosted by Stuart Hall. The event raised over £1 million for the four charities (three of which were World Wildlife Fund (Prince Andrew), Save the Children Fund (Princess Anne), and Barnardo's.

BBC Radio 1 was there with Mike Smith doing the Breakfast Show and Steve Wright with The Radio 1 Roadshow.

Immediately after the event, Prince Edward asked the assembled journalists "well, what did you think?" (of the event). Somewhat taken aback by such a direct question, the journalists responded with a nervous laughter. The Prince famously stormed out of the press conference, sarcastically thanking the journalists for their enthusiasm.

The entire day has gone down as one of the biggest and most embarrassing failures in television history, and is often joked about. Indeed, some commentators have gone as far as to describe the event as being the start of the decline of the British public's respect for their Royal Family.

[edit] External links

• IMDb
• Knockout - The Grand Charity Tournament (the book of the event) ISBN 0-00-217993-8