by Gerry Warren

The producer of this year's Marlowe Theatre pantomime has hit back at claims that his show insults royal sisters Beatrice and Eugenie.

It follows a letter of complaint in last week's Kentish Gazette newspaper in which reader Bob Britnell branded the naming of the ugly sisters after the Princesses as 'sad and pathetic'.

Mr Britnell, who is senior planning officer at Canterbury City Council, said: "Looking at their photos, they don't seem ugly, just two pretty, ordinary girls who get on with their lives without courting celebrity, so why mock them?

"Sadly there are plenty of people out there willing to mock others for no good reason.

"What a shame our pantomime has added to them. Shame on the producers and shame on the theatre for not intervening."

Mr Britnell, of Orchard Close, Canterbury, said he would not be coming to see Cinderella at the Marlowe because of the 'cheap joke'.

But show producer Paul Hendy, who also wrote and directs the pantomime, said Mr Britnell had been 'misinformed' and it was a pity he's written to complain without actually seeing the production.

He explained: "The 'sisters' are indeed called Beatrice and Eugenie but the term 'ugly sisters' is never actually used in relation to the names and we never refer to the royal family at any point.

"As a Royalist myself, I can guarantee there are no derogatory jokes about our royal family.

"In our production, our 'sisters' wear fantastically outrageous and lavish costumes and the joke is more of a reference to the self-confessed unusual fashion sense of the sisters’ royal namesakes."

He added: "In pantomime, there is a long tradition of using the names of famous people who have been in the public eye that year.

"In our past productions, the sisters have been called 'Britney and Madonna' and 'Trinny and Susannah'.

"I'm sure Mr Britnell will agree that these are very glamorous women.

"The real Beatrice and Eugenie famously have a wonderful sense of humour and I'm sure they would find this highly amusing.

"I firmly believe that pantomime should have a slightly satirical edge and gently poke fun at the great and the good. It is the broad range of humour that makes pantomime so uniquely British.

"More than 70,000 people have seen the show and we have been inundated with e-mails and letters saying how much people have enjoyed it.

"I do hope people will come to see for themselves that the Beatrice and Eugenie joke is a very small part of the show and is in no way offensive."

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