Royal family members and strippers actually have one key thing in common

While it's easy to think of members of the royal family and exotic dancers as being from two very different walks of life, one UK comedian has suggested they have more in common than previously thought.

An unearthed clip featuring Stephen Fry was posted to the Instagram account @polishedspeaker.

In the clip, 67-year-old Fry says: "Members of the royal family follow the precise technique of what you might call lap-dancing type girls, hostesses, in louche bars that charge, you know, £400 for a bottle of warm champagne. And that is, you see, you say the last word of whatever has been said to you."

He explains to host Michael Parkinson: "So if I say to you, 'where were you born?'"

Parkinson replies: "I was born in Yorkshire," as Fry retorts: "Yorkshire? Yorkshire is one of my favourite [places], was it in Leeds?"

"No, no, Barnsley."

Fry replies: "Barnsley! Oh Barnsley is fascinating... and similarly you say, 'what's your job?'"

Parkinson says: "I'm a, I do a talk show."

"Oh you do a talk show? That's interesting, like Jonathan Ross! How long have you been doing it?", Fry asks.

"Many, many years," is Parkinson's response, to which Fry says: "Oh many, many years, that's interesting."

And so on and so forth.

The caption for the video reads: "Of the many characteristics that distinguish royalty from the rest, eloquence in speech and manners are two that stand out in particular.

"Rarely however do we speak of lap dancers or strippers in the same terms which is why this clip featuring Stephen Fry is as humorous as it is informative.

"One of the advantages of starting your sentences by repeating the last thing the other person said is that at the very least you demonstrate that you were listening. You're also unlikely to be stuck for something to say given that you use the other person as a prompt.

"On the other hand as Stephen demonstrated, if the other person realises what you are doing, it seems performative or insincere."

One person chimed in: "That’s actually an excellent technique!! Gives you something to start with so you don’t end up speechless, hunting for something to say!"

Another added: "As someone who isn’t really adept at small talk, this technique may be very helpful to me in the future. Thank you!"

And a third said: "I do this and I didn't even realise I did! I guess I'm better at talking to people than I realised."