Duke 'called Walliams a nut' - Dec 7 2007
The Duke of Edinburgh called David Walliams "a nut" when he met the Little Britain star at Buckingham Palace, the comedian has said.

David was invited to meet the Queen at a reception for young achievers after swimming the Channel last year.

He said: "I was amazed at how nervous I was before I met the Queen.

"I had my telephone voice on. I said 'I raised £1 million'. I wanted to say 'make it £2 million'. You have a terrible sense you're going to say the wrong thing."

But David, 36, added that the Duke, known for his gaffes, took a different approach.

He told BBC One's Friday Night with Jonathan Ross: "Prince Philip didn't stop to speak to us.

"He just said 'is this the nut who swam the Channel?' He said to my mother 'any more nuts in your family?'"

David, who was on the Ross sofa with co-star Matt Lucas, became one of the top 50 fastest Channel swimmers of all time with his gruelling 21-mile swim for charity Sport Relief.

The Little Britain creators also revealed on the show that they snubbed a dinner invite from Madonna and based one of their characters in their new series Little Britain USA on her personal assistant.

David said: "The night came, and half an hour beforehand he called saying Madonna may or may not be coming to the dinner.

"We weren't going to just sit in this restaurant and wait for her."

David: Funny is funny - Sept 28 2007
David Walliams has apparently revealed that he and his Little Britain co-star Matt Lucas don’t plan to make any changes to their show to suit American tastes.

The duo are busy working on a version of the series for America’s HBO channel next year, but say they plan to stick to the original storylines and only change some cultural references.

"When Friends is shown in Britain no one says, ’I don’t understand it because they’re American’," the Daily Express quoted David as saying.

"I think funny is funny. If you try to change too much there is a danger of losing what’s funny about you.

"Monty Python didn’t remake their show for America and it became a phenomenon there."

The pair are hoping to have the same success as Sacha Baron Cohen, who remade Da Ali G Show for HBO and it was a huge hit.

Matt added: "We’ve watched what Sacha Baron Cohen has done with great interest."


Walliams: De Niro thrill - July 30 2007
David Walliams may be best known for playing transvestites and bumbling carer Lou in Little Britain, but nowadays he’s appearing alongside stars like Robert De Niro in big Hollywood movies, such as new fantasy movie Stardust.

"I’m in the film," he said at the LA premiere on the Paramount lot.

"I play a ghost but half of my face is scalded so you can’t really see it’s me.

"The film is a big sort of epic like Lord of The Rings and Pirates of The Caribbean, but with a sort of British flavour," he added.

"Something very original from the director Matthew Vaughn."

And David confessed he was looking forward to meeting up with some of the big stars attending the premiere.

"It’s an amazing cast," he said. "I’m most looking forward to seeing Robert De Niro. I doubt he’ll stop to talk - he’s a man of few words, but just to see him from a distance would thrill me."

Aside from his fledgling film career, David’s keeping tight lipped about more projects on the horizon.