In an awkward appearance on
Letterman's "Late Show" on Wednesday, filmed in New York, Cameron
failed to guess the composer of the hymn "Rule Britannia" or the
meaning of "Magna Carta", an early English charter of rights.
"You have found me out.
That is bad, I have ended my career on your show tonight," Cameron joked
on the influential CBS show, which is watched by around three million Americans
every night.
Britain's Independent newspaper
said Cameron had suffered a "humour and history failure", while some
commentators jokingly suggested the prime minister should be deported for
failing the mock "citizenship" test.
Cameron, 45, who was educated
at the elite Eton boarding school and Oxford University, wrongly guessed that
Edward Elgar composed "Rule Britannia" -- the poem by James Thomson
was in fact put to music by Thomas Arne.
He was also baffled when
Letterman asked what "Magna Carta" means. It translates from Latin
into English as "Great Charter".
As the first serving British
premier to appear on the long-running show, Cameron was welcomed on to strains
of "Rule Britannia" before Letterman inquired if he minded being
asked some "dumb American questions".
The prime minister fared better
during other parts of the grilling, correctly identifying the date of Magna
Carta's signing as 1215 and explaining the difference between Northern Ireland
and the Republic of Ireland.
He also won applause from the
audience when he hailed the success of the London Olympics.
The British press had warned
Cameron of the perils of appearing on the "Late Show", as 65-year-old
Letterman is known for his irreverent questioning.
When London's dishevelled mayor
Boris Johnson was a guest on the show in June, Letterman asked him if he cut
his own hair.
Some
commentators on Thursday suggested that Cameron, who was in New York to attend
the UN General Assembly, appeared on the show in a bid to outshine Johnson,
seen in Britain as a potential future Conservative leader.
Cameron headed on Thursday from
New York to Brazil in a bid to boost trade links between Britain and the
fast-growing Latin American economy.
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