South Park depicts the Queen's suicide after plot to conquer US fails

Certainly Her Majesty is unlikely to be amused by a programme that shows her blowing her brains out.

The scene begins with a clearly alarmed Queen receiving a call on her mobile telling her that an evil British plot to conquer America has gone awry.

She then reaches for a handgun, places it in her mouth and shoots herself. She can be seen tumbling from her throne and in the final image her bloody corpse is depicted lying prostrate on the palace floor.

The episode, broadcast last night in the US, also featured presidential contender Hillary Clinton in a parody of "24", the thriller that takes place over the course of a day and which typically involves a terrorist threat of epic proportions.

In the course of last night's show - as well as having the Queen commit suicide - a group of Russian mercenariesworking for the British install a nuclear device in Mrs Clinton's more intimate areas. The plot is foiled.

South Park, about the lives of four schoolboys in a town of the same name in Colorado, has courted controversy since it first aired in 1997, attracting a large cult following in the process.

Its creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone describe themselves as "equal opportunity offenders" and it is certainly the case that a broad spectrum of society has felt its wrath at one stage or another.

Most recently it attracted adverse headlines for an episode in October in which it mocked Steve Irwin, the Australian crocodile hunter, just weeks after his death. In it he makes an appearance at Satan's fancy dress party, shown with the stingray barb that killed him still in his chest.

The latest programme will merely fuel South Park's legendary status among its avid followers. For the first five seasons, one of the main characters, Kenny, is killed in a variety of grotesque ways, and always to the exclamation "Oh my God, they killed Kenny."

By season six, Parker and Stone had replaced Kenny with a new character because they were struggling to find new ways to finish Kenny off and were feeling "creatively boxed in". It appears the Queen has provided them with a new creative outlet.