Wolf Hall star Damian Lewis blunders by jokingly telling Charles ‘not less than you’ll be able to declare to not be associated’ to Henry VIII – though he’s!

Wolf Hall star Damian Lewis made a blunder at Buckingham Palace by jokingly telling King Charles ‘at least you can claim not to be related to’ Henry VIII – even though the monarch is.

The King, 75, was joined by a host of TV and film stars as he hosted a glittering reception to celebrate the centenary of the Film and TV Charity at Buckingham Palace.

Charles could be seen getting on particularly well with Lewis, 53, who made the King erupt into laughter.

Lewis, who is starring as Tudor monarch King Henry VIII in Wolf Hall: The Mirror and The Light, cheekily told him: ‘At least you can claim not to be related to him!’

But Charles is in fact a distant relative of Henry VIII through George I, a great-grandson of James I, who was a great-great-grandson of Henry VII. Charles III is a ninth-generation descendant of George I.

The King, who is understood to have watched Wolf Hall with Queen Camilla, told Lewis: ‘You were fantastic in it.’ 

Lewis is starring as the famous monarch in the BBC’s adaptation of the Wolf Hall trilogy. The first series was broadcast in 2015 and documented Thomas Cromwell’s rapid rise to power.

Based on Dame Hilary Mantel’s novel of the same name, Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light picks up where the last series ended in the aftermath of the execution of Queen Anne Boleyn. 

While the death of the Queen has left the King free to marry again, the politics at court are deadlier than ever before.

An isolated and increasingly desperate Cromwell, played again by Sir Mark Rylance, will stop at nothing to cling on to power, while an increasingly paranoid King Henry, played by Lewis, is proving more difficult to please.

Lewis revealed earlier this month that taking on the role of Henry VIII wore him down.

He told Radio Times: ‘Well, acting is therapeutic, for sure, but I don’t think you’d want to be playing these kinds of people too often because they do wear you down over time.

‘So, yes, there is a freedom, there is something therapeutic to be able to behave in whatever way you want, because any good drama most of the time explores us in extremis – our excesses, our greatest conflicts and our greatest triumphs – and life isn’t always like that. 

‘Life can be a bit more grey and a bit more dithering.’ 

Earlier at Buckingham Palace, Charles said he was ‘moved to tears’ by his wife’s documentary on domestic abuse.

Elsewhere, Queen Camilla chatted animatedly with actress Emily Mortimer about her mother Penelope, whom she knows personally.

‘Penny sends her love, ‘ Mortimer told her.

When Her Majesty enquired about how she was, the actress laughed and said: ‘Oh, she’s still smoking as much as ever.’

‘Oh she’s still on the fags!’ laughed the Queen.

‘Yes she’s still on the fags!’ giggled Mortimer.

While acting legend Denzel Washington, who had been expected to attend, was a no-show – although he will meet the King later tonight at the premiere of his new film Gladiator II – the film’s director Sir Ridley Scott was there.

Queen Camilla, who has had to pull out of the event due to an ongoing chest infection, told him: ‘I am so sorry I’m not coming tonight. I’d be coughing throughout it. ‘ The director clasped her hands and told her not to worry at all.

Indeed, the Queen discreetly coughed several times during her shortened appearance at the reception and gratefully sipped on a glass of water, saying she had felt ‘absolutely rotten’ last week but was definitely ‘on the mend’.

Other talent in the line up in the Music Room at the palace included British actor Henry Golding – who told the King how nice it was to be ‘back on British soil’ after after living in LA for 17 years – Emily in Paris star Lucian Laviscount, Mo Gilligan, Claudia Winkleman, India Amarteifio, who played young Queen Charlotte in the Bridgestone spin off, and director Gurinder Chadha.

Other royals present included the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.

The King is Patron of the Film and TV Charity, succeeding Queen Elizabeth II, who had held the patronage since 1952.

Founded in 1924, to help people working in the screen industries to overcome a spectrum of personal and professional challenges, today it continues to offer counselling and support with mental health, legal, and financial advice.

Celebrating those who work within the television and film industry in the UK, Their Majesties met guests including directors, actors, TV presenters, stunt performers and costume designers.

And there was even an opportunity to view a number of costumes and items from films including Titanic (1997), Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003), and the late Dame Maggie Smith’s costume from Evil Under The Sun (1982), as well as hear music from TV shows, film scores, and musicals, performed by The Countess of Wessex String Orchestra.

As well as teasing the King about his ancestry, Lewis also told him that he watched the Queen’s recent television documentary on the source of domestic abuse and how moved he had been by it.

‘It’s very moving, isn’t it?’ His Majesty said.

‘I think BAFTA are interest in it.’

He added: ‘Will you please give your fellow actors my regards. They are just brilliant in it.’

The King also spoke to two of the makers of the Queen’s programme, Naveed Chowdhary-Flatt and Kerene Barefield, and told them he had been ‘moved to tears’ when he watched a preview of it in Scotland.

He added: ‘I really am very proud.’