John Oliver takes the fake British monarchy commentator from New York down a peg

John Oliver finds an American pretending to be very, very British
(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/Last Week Tonight)

If you watched the wedding of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle, you might have seen color commentary from the chairman of the British Monarchy Society, Thomas J. Mace-Archer-Mills Esq., John Oliver said on Sunday's Last Week Tonight. And while Oliver might be a skeptic of the British monarchy himself, he was as annoyed as amused to find out that Mr. Mace-Archer-Mills has a dark secret: "It's true — that British man is actually Tommy Muscatello from New York. And that is a destabilizing thing to learn."

"What is most galling about Tommy Muscatello is that, as a defender of the monarchy, he used his air time to argue that Meghan Markle was a brash interloper who needed to proceed with care," Oliver noted, playing an example. "Let me make this perfectly clear: Meghan Markle's American passport is not an insult to anyone. The name Thomas J. Mace-Archer-Mills Esq., however, is offensively British. That is the equivalent of a British person pretending to be an American and calling themselves Jefferson Budweiser McNuggets Jr." He explained something about Muscatello's background: "Apparently, he went to Europe, met an old lady, asked her to be his grandmother, and now he knows all about the monarchy. And if that sounds at all familiar to you, it's because it's literally the exact backstory of Babar the Elephant." And he closed with some advice. Watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.