'People should be thanking the Brits' - Paul Mescal's comments on King Charles sparks divisive talks

Paul Mescal's comments on meeting King Charles has sparked a conversation around "anti British sentiment".

28 year old Mescal said meeting the King at the Gladiator II world premiere was not on his "list of priorities".

Mescal, who portrays a grown-up Lucius in Sir Ridley Scott’s new historical epic, was introduced to Charles at the star-studded event in central London last week.

Gladiator II is set years after the Oscar-winning 2000 film, which starred Russell Crowe as Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius.

Speaking to US outlet Variety on the red carpet of the film’s Los Angeles premiere on Monday, Mescal reflected on his experience of meeting the King.

He said: “How wild is it? It’s definitely not something that I thought was in the bingo cards.

“I’m Irish, so it’s not on the list of priorities. But it’s an amazing thing for Ridley because I know how important that is for him.

“So to see his film celebrated in that context was pretty special.”

Recalling his encounter with Charles, Mescal admitted he found it hard to hear what was being said amid the excitement of the premiere so he was “nodding along and smiling”.

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His comments have since sparked conversations with Loyalist activist Moore Holmes saying Mescal's comments "can shine a light on what many consider to be a growing unwelcome, and frankly irrational anti British sentiment that exists within the Republic of Ireland."

Speaking on Newstalk on Wednesday morning, Holmes said,

"I think we need to look at what's relevant today, rather than being oppressed by the United Kingdom, the people in the Republic have been demonstrably advantaged.

"People shouldn't be booing the Brits, in many respects, they should be thanking them, you know, It's British ships that protest the Irish seas.

"I think for some people they still have that old 'Britain is our enemy' mentality. You see people saying 'Oh we were oppressed for 100s of years, and you know we could have a debate about all the ins and outs of that, but I think you have to accept the reality that not a single person alive in the Republic today has been oppressed by the Brits.

"You have had a free state for over 100 years, you've been a republic for over 75 years, if anyone is experiencing oppression south of the border I think they need a to look a bit closer to home."

"True, but people don't forget their history", replied host Ciara Kelly, "And I am speaking to a Loyalist, I think that's a fair comment from me, that people don't forget their history, because nobody alive in the North remembers King Billy, yet you still have Orange Lodges.

"That's in the nature of people, that we have a tribe."