"Real Time" host Bill Maher predicted that the passing of Queen Elizabeth II will mark the end of the British people's total "reverence" towards the Royal Family.
"I made lots of jokes about the queen. I noticed whenever it was a British person, like, even the ones who seem iconoclast, Sharon Osbourne was here, Piers Morgan, Andrew Sullivan, the British people- it's not funny," Maher kicked off the panel discussion on Friday night. It's like, 'Oh, no, don't call it the old bag.' Whatever it is, ‘No.’"
"Even the ones who came to America, the British people, they had it they have the thing- or, my question is is it just for this lady?" Maher wondered. "I think it died with her. I think that reverence- I think she was the last one. And now the monarchy- I'm not gonna say it's gonna go away. But I think that kind of like, 'No, don't say anything about' - I think that's gonna go. I think she was the last of the thing."
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Reason Magazine editor at large Matt Welch responded by saying he finds it hard to believe that British singer John Lydon, famously known as Johnny Rotten, will say "God save the king" after tweeting out his best wishes for the queen.
"That's what I'm saying, it's in their blood," Maher reacted.
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Fellow panelist and NYU Professor Scott Galloway, whose parents migrated to the U.S. from the U.K., told Maher he can't think of another individual in history "who has reined over an institution with so much grace over 70 years," adding that he thought it was "heartening" to "see so many people come together and collectively be sad about one person."
"This guy is only second generation British, apparently, and he's got a boner for her," Maher joked.
"100 percent, 100 percent," Galloway grinned.
Maher, who repeatedly told his audience he always "liked" the queen, cracked some jokes during his opening monologue in reaction to her passing.
"Queen Elizabeth died at 96. They say the cause of death was Meghan Markle's podcast," Maher joked.
The HBO star also told his audience that both President Biden and former President Trump sent their condolences to the British people, adding that Trump offered to "bury her in his golf course."
