Comedian Russell Brand Says The Queen Of England Should Be Called 'Mrs Bratwurst-Kraut-Nazi'

Russell Brand sparked anger across England when he wrote a Facebook post saying that Queen Elizabeth II of England should be called "Mrs Bratwurst-Kraut-Nazi" due to her German heritage. The comedian's July 20 post comes just days after a British tabloid published grainy footage of a child, reportedly the queen, doing the Hitler salute.

Brand's post, from his upcoming book, "Revolution," started off by making fun of the idea that England still has royalty. "We have to call her things like 'Your Majesty.' YOUR MAJESTY! Like she’s all majestic, like an eagle or a mountain. She’s just a person. A little old lady in a shiny hat – that we paid for," Brand wrote.

The comedian pointed out that the queen's family changed their surname from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Winsor. The change is true, according to the official website of the British monarchy, though the queen's family changed the name during World War I, meaning that she was born a Winsor in 1926. Brand wrote that given how Germanic her family name sounded, "she might’ve well as been called 'Mrs Bratwurst-Kraut-Nazi.'”

Brand's comments struck a particular nerve after British tabloid The Sun published a video that reportedly shows Elizabeth and the royal family saluting Hitler in a 1933 home video. The video was illegally leaked to the press from the queen's personal archive, and many believe the clip was blown out of proportion given that the queen was about 7 years old at the time. In an article published in the Times of Israel, many British Jews defended the queen, pointing out that in 1933 Hitler had just risen to power and his brutality was not yet known.

Many were offended by Brand's comments and took to Twitter. The Independent newspaper posted the following to its verified Twitter page: