Emmys: Cedric the Entertainer makes fun of the royal family during opening monologue

Cedric the Entertainer spoke about the royal family during the Primetime Emmy Awards. Photo / AP

Cedric the Entertainer mocked the British royal family as he hosted the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday.

The 57-year-old comic poked fun at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey – in which Meghan famously claimed there had been questions from another royal about how dark their 2-year-old son Archie's skin would be when she was pregnant – as he ran his eye over the TV highlights of the past year.

He quipped to the audience in Los Angeles: "Oooo I mean that Oprah interview with Prince Harry and Megan. That was the real tea right there, wasn't it!?

"Meghan must put it on that boy because he renounced his throne quicker than Eddie Murphy in Coming to America.

"I can't believe they were talking about little Archie. How dark that little baby gonna be.

"They need little Archie! Charles can't dance, who else going to teach them how to TikTok I can just see it now, baby Archie with the Queen, like come on Gammy."

Cedric then shared his vision for Archie and Queen Elizabeth making a TikTok video and laughed: "The whole crown behind them like, 'Ok your majesty, I see you'."

This year's awards – which were held at LA Live – were held with a reduced audience and had various measures in place due to the coronavirus pandemic, including a requirement for attendees to be vaccinated, allowing Cedric another opportunity to make a joke.

Referencing Nicki Minaj's recent claims about side effects when explaining her decision to miss the Met Gala because she hadn't been jabbed, he said: "We had to get vaxed to come here. I did not have a reaction like Nicki Minaj's cousin ... I got Pfizer, that's the Neiman Marcus of vaccines. Moderna is Macy's. And Johnson & Johnson is TJ Maxx."

And Cedric joked there was pressure on him as host because he's a person of colour and black people "think I can give an award to anyone".

Cedric had kicked off the evening with a musical spectacular that saw him change the lyrics of Biz Markie's Just a Friend to focus on TV shows, with stars including LL Cool J, Dave "Lil Dicky" Burd and Rita Wilson joining him for the opener, while audience members including Billy Porter, Mj Rodriguez and Tracee Ellis-Ross also got involved.