Karl Stefanovic pranks Lisa Wilkinson with Anchorman-style gag

TODAY host Lisa Wilkinson has fallen victim to an autocue prank from co-host Karl Stefanovic, unwittingly suggesting the royal family are set to lead the charge for Australia to become a republic.

Wilkinson was voicing a clip ahead of Prince Charles and Camilla’s upcoming Australian tour on the show this morning when Stefanovic struck.

“Charles and Camilla are coming down under to sign up for the republican movement,” Wilkinson read, before realising her error.

“You bugger! You said to me there was something wrong with that script … Karl said, ‘don’t worry, I’ll fix it!’”

Stefanovic had managed to edit the teleprompter script without his co-host noticing and promptly fell into hysterics.

Wilkinson’s husband, journalist and author Peter FitzSimons, is the head of the Australian Republican Movement.

It’s not the first time Stefanovic has engineered an Anchorman-style teleprompter gaffe.

In 2013, stand-in sports presenter Roz Kelly was presenting a news segment on Chelsea’s Champions League win in Amsterdam.

“How good are the cookies there…” a perplexed Kelly read, triggering tears of laughter from her cruel colleagues.